2 I INTRODUCTION TO THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE APPLICATION 1. On April 1, 2008, in accordance with Articles 51 and 61 of the American Convention, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter, the “Commission” or the “Inter-American Commission”) submitted an application to the Court against the Republic of Perú (hereinafter, the "State" or "Perú"). Said application originated in petition N° 12.357, forwarded to the Secretariat of the Commission on November 12, 1998 by members of the Association of Discharged and Retired Employees of the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic of Perú [Asociación Nacional de Cesantes y Jubilados de la Contraloría General de la República del Perú] (hereinafter, the "Association" or the “Association of Discharged and Retired Employees”) and the application was expanded on January 24, 2000, date on which they appointed, inter alia, the Labor Advisory Center (hereinafter, “CEDAL”) as legal representative. On October 9, 2002 the Commission adopted the Report on Admissibility N° 47/02, by which it admitted such petition. Afterwards, on October 27, 2006, the Commission adopted the Report on Merits N° 125/06 under the terms of Article 50 of the Convention, by which it made certain recommendations to the State.4 On April 1, 2008 the Commission decided, under the terms of Articles 51(1) of the Convention and 44 of its Rules of Procedure, to submit the instant case to the Court's jurisdiction considering that "the State has failed to comply with the recommendations" mentioned in the Report on Merits N° 125/06. The Commission appointed Mr. Paolo Carozza, Commissioner and Mr. Santiago A. Canton, Executive Secretary as Delegates and Mrs. Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Deputy Executive Secretary, Norma Colledani and Manuela Cruz Rodriguez, specialists of the Executive Secretariat of the Commission as legal advisors. 2. In the application, the Commission referred to the alleged failure to comply with the judgments of the Constitutional Court of Perú delivered on October 21, 1997 and January 26, 2001 ordering “the Office of the Comptroller General of the Republic (CGR) to comply with the payment to the alleged victims of the salaries and wages, benefits, and bonuses received by the active employees of that office performing functions identical, similar, or equivalent to those that the discharged or retired employees performed”, regarding the two hundred and seventy-three [273] members of the Association of Discharged or Retired Employees of the Comptroller General of the Republic (hereinafter, the “alleged victims” or the “273 members of the CGR”).5 The Commission pointed out that "[e]ven 4 In the Report on Merits, the Commission concluded that, "the Peruvian State is responsible for the violation to the right to judicial protection and to property as enshrined in Articles 25 and 21 of the American Convention, to the detriment of the discharged and retired employees of the Comptroller General of the Republic. Moreover, the foregoing constituted the violation by the Peruvian State of the general obligation to respect and guarantee imposed upon the State by Article 1(1) of said international treaty" Finally, the Commission recommended the State "to take the necessary measures to efficiently comply with the judgments of the Constitutional Tribunal of Perú rendered on October 21, 1997 and January 26, 2001”. 5 The 273 alleged victims in this case are: Acevedo Buendía, Alejandro; Acevedo Castro, Apolonio; Acevedo León de Dávila, Isabel Zoila; Acosta Arandia, Asunción Graciela; Acosta Trujillo, Marcial; Agüero Ayala, Zóismo; Aguilar Arévalo, Augusto Marcos; Aguilar Serrano, Miguel Tulio; Aguirre Calderon, Emilio Fernando; Alarcón Coronado De Pérez, Nilda René; Alayo Fajardo, Félix Agustín; Alcalá Contreras, Carmen Alejandra; Alcóser Gutiérrez, Moisés Ernesto; Almenara Valdez De Hemmerde, Luisa; Almeyda Flores, Gerardo; Álvarez Postigo, Víctor Augusto; Alza Ahumada, Carlos Eugenio; Amico Ramos Vda. de Errea, Leticia; Ampuero Pasten, Alejandro Augusto; Anaya Vda. De Faura, María Cristina; Aparicio Sifuentes, José Melchor; Aquije Alvarez, Luis Alberto; Arana Pozo, Iraida Eumelia; Arancivia De Valdez, Jaqueline Tania Silvana; Aranda De Los Ríos, María Rosa; Arce Meza, Fernando Aníbal; Arce Vda. De Hipólito, Carmen Julia; Arevalo Dávila Vda. de Pujazón, Martha