10 members of the Commission for the corresponding analysis. On June 3, 1999, the Chairman of the Commission, Robert K. Goldman, and the Executive Secretary, Jorge E. Taiana, communicated with the First Vice Chairman, Hélio Bicudo, the Second Vice Chairman, Claudio Grossman, and Jean Joseph Exumé and Alvaro Tirado Mejía, members of the Commission, to request their opinion on the document. 22. The Commission acknowledged the willingness expressed by Venezuela through its representative, but considered that the document presented by the State did not constitute appropriate compliance with the recommendations of the Commission and, consequently, it unanimously decided to confirm that this case would be referred to the Court. V PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT 23. The application in this case was submitted to the Court on June 7, 1999. 24. The Commission appointed Hélio Bicudo and Oscar Luján Fappiano as Delegates; Hernando Valencia Villa, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Commission, and Milton Castillo Rodríguez, principal expert of the Secretariat as lawyers; and Liliana Ortega Mendoza and Héctor Faúndez Ledesma, in representation of COFAVIC, Viviana Krsticevic and María Claudia Pulido, in representation of CEJIL, and José Miguel Vivanco in representation of Human Rights Watch/Americas as assistants. In accordance with the provisions of Article 22.2 of the Rules of Procedure, the Commission advised that the assistants represented the victims’ next of kin. 25. On June 17, 1999, the Secretariat of the Court (hereinafter “the Secretariat”), following the instructions of the President of the Court (hereinafter “the President”), pursuant to the provisions of Article 33 and 34 of the Rules of Procedure, requested the Commission to correct some deficiencies observed during the preliminary examination of the application within a period of 20 days. On June 22 and 28, 1999, the Commission corrected the deficiencies in the application and forwarded copies of the evidence requested. 26. On June 30, 1999, the Commission forwarded twenty photographs related to the events of February and March 1989 in Venezuela and indicated that they formed part of the documentary evidence of the application. 27. In a note of July 5, 1999, the Secretariat notified the State of the application and its annexes, after the President had examined them. It also informed the State that it had one month to appoint an Agent and a Deputy Agent, two months to submit preliminary exceptions and four months to reply to the application. 28. On August 11, 1999, the State appointed Raúl Arrieta Cuevas as its Agent and Ambassador Noel García Gómez as Deputy Agent. 29. On August 26, 1999, the Secretariat forwarded to the State all the documentation contained in annex 35 of the application, regarding the powers of attorney granted by the alleged victims or their next of kin. 30. On August 26, 1999, Venezuela requested the Court to