4. Notification to the State and to the representatives. The State and the representatives of the presumed victims 4 were notified of the submission of the case on February 13, 2012. 5. Brief with pleadings, arguments and evidence. On April 5, 2012, Carlos and Pablo Carlos Mémoli, together with Leopoldo Gold (hereinafter “the representatives”), presented their brief with pleadings, arguments and evidence (hereinafter “pleadings and motions brief”), pursuant to Articles 25 and 40 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure. The representatives agreed, substantially, with the violations alleged by the Inter-American Commission and asked the Court to declare the international responsibility of the State for the alleged violation of the same articles of the American Convention indicated by the Commission. In addition, they asserted that the State had also violated Articles 9 (Freedom from Ex Post Facto Laws), 21 (Right to Property), 23 (Right to Participate in Government), 24 (Right to Equal Protection) and 25 (Right to Judicial Protection) of the American Convention, to the detriment of Carlos and Pablo Carlos Mémoli. Consequently, they asked the Court to order diverse measures of reparation, as well as the payment of costs and expenses. 6. Answering brief. On June 22, 2012, Argentina submitted to the Court its brief answering the Commission’s submission of the case by and with observations on the pleadings and motions brief (hereinafter “the answering brief”). In this brief, the State filed two preliminary objections and included “preliminary comments [on] the effects on interAmerican public order in the area of human rights” (infra paras. 12 and 19). The State appointed Alberto Javier Salgado, Director of the Human Rights International Litigation Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, as its Agent for this case, and Julio César Ayala, Chargé d’affaires of the Argentine Embassy in Costa Rica, and Andrea G. Gualde, National Director of Legal Affairs in the area of Human Rights, of the national Human Rights Secretariat as Deputy Agents. 7. Observations on the preliminary objections. On September 15 and 19, 2012, the InterAmerican Commission and the representatives, respectively, presented their observations on the preliminary objections filed by the State. On that occasion, the Commission also presented its observations on the State’s preliminary comments on the effects on interAmerican public order (supra para. 6). The representatives also submitted documentation that it referred to as “new evidence originating in the […] months [following the presentation of their pleadings and motions brief].” 8. Public hearing. On December 19, 2012, the President of the Court issued an Order, 5 convening the Inter-American Commission, the representatives, and the State to a public hearing to receive the final oral arguments of the representatives and of the State, and the final oral observations of the Commission, on the preliminary objections and eventual merits, reparations and costs. The public hearing took place on February 8, 2013, during the Court’s ninety-eighth regular session, held at its seat. 6 During this hearing, the judges of the Court 4 In the brief submitting the case (supra para. 1), the Inter-American Commission stated that “Carlos and Pablo Carlos Mémoli acted directly as petitioners in the processing of the case.” In their pleadings and motions brief, Carlos and Pablo Carlos Mémoli confirmed that Pablo Carlos Mémoli would represent himself and his father, “with the assistance of the lawyer, Leopoldo Ariel Gold.” 5 Cf. Case of Mémoli v. Argentina. Order of the President of the Court of December 19, 2012, which can be consulted on the Court’s website at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/asuntos/memoli_19_12_12.pdf. 6 At this hearing, there appeared: (a) for the Inter-American Commission: Catalina Botero, Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression and Silvia Serrano Guzmán, Adviser; (b) for the representatives: Pablo Carlos Mémoli and Leopoldo Gold, and (c) for the State: Alberto Javier Salgado, Director of the Human Rights International Litigation Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship; María Eugenia Carbone, Coordinator of International Legal Affairs of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice of the Nation; Gonzalo Bueno, Legal Adviser of the Human Rights International Litigation Unit of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship, and Patricia Cao, Legal Adviser for International Legal Affairs of the Human Rights Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice of the Nation. 6