12.
The brief of December 20, 2012, in which the Commission stated that it “ha[d] no
observations to make to the definitive list of deponents of the representative”, made certain
observations regarding two witnesses proposed by the State and requested an opportunity
to submit questions to the four expert witnesses offered by Peru.
13.
The note of January 11, 2013, in which the Secretariat, in accordance with Article
48(3) of the Rules and following instructions of the acting President, granted Mr. Federico
Javier Llaque Moya, proposed as an expert witness by the State, a period to submit any
observations deemed pertinent regarding the challenge made against him by the
representative (supra Having Seen 11).
14.
The brief of January 21, 2013, in which Mr. Federico Javier Llaque Moya submitted
his observations to the challenge filed against him.
CONSIDERING THAT:
1.
The offer and admission of evidence, together with the summons of witnesses and
expert witnesses, are regulated in Articles 35(1)(f), 40(2)(c), 41(1) (c), 42(2), 46, 47, 48,
50, 57 and 58 of the Rules of the Court.
2.
The Commission offered as evidence two expert opinions and the representative
offered four testimonies, while the State offered ten witness statements and four expert
opinions, all at the appropriate procedural stage. However, in its definitive list of deponents,
the State only confirmed the statements of four witnesses and four expert witnesses, and
in addition proposed the statement of Oscar Manuel Arriola Delgado, who had not been
included in its answer brief (supra Having Seen 1, 3, 4 and 8).
3.
The Court guaranteed the parties the right of defense in respect of the offers of
evidence contained in their briefs submitting the case, of pleadings and motions and the
answer brief, as well as in their definitive lists (supra Having Seen 9).
4.
The State objected to the expert opinions offered by the Inter-American
Commission, the witness statements offered by the representative and the inclusion of two
statements rendered in the case of the Miguel Castro Castro Prison v. Peru. The
representative challenged one of the expert witnesses proposed by the State and presented
objections to three witnesses offered by the State; and the Inter-American Commission
pointed out a change in the object of a testimony offered by the State, as well as the
allegedly time-barred offer of one of the witnesses proposed by the State and reported that
it had no observations to make to the definitive list of deponents submitted by the
representative.
With regard to the observations presented by the Commission, the acting President
emphasizes that the admissibility of a witness statement is a procedural matter that
essentially concerns the State and the representative as opposing parties. Consequently, in
this case it is not necessary to rule on the Commission’s observations regarding the two
testimonies offered by the State.
5.
6.
As to those statements offered by Peru that have not been objected to, the acting
President considers it appropriate to obtain this evidence, so that the Court may assess its
value at the proper procedural moment, within the context of the existing body of evidence
and according to the rules of sound judgment. Therefore, the acting President admits the
witness statements of Magda Victoria Atto Mendives and Pablo Talavera Elguera, and the
expert opinions of José María Asencio Mellado, Miguel Ángel Soria Fuerte and Eduardo
3