3 II 6. Pursuant to Article 62 of the Convention, the Court is competent to rule on the payment of reparations, indemnities and costs in the instant case, inasmuch as Venezuela ratified the Convention on August 9, 1977, and accepted the contentious jurisdiction of the Court on June 24, 1981. III 7. The time limit stipulated in operative paragraph 3 of the Court's judgment expired on July 18, 1995, but there has been no indication that an agreement has been reached. Consequently, pursuant to that judgment, it is for the Court to determine the scope of the reparations and the amount of the indemnities and costs. 8. By Order of September 21, 1995, the Court decided to institute the proceedings for reparations, indemnities and costs and granted the Commission until November 3, 1995 to offer and present any evidence in its possession concerning the reparations, indemnities and costs in the instant case. The pertinent information was received on that date. The Court also granted the State until January 2, 1996 to submit its comments on the Commission's brief, and these were received on that date. 9. On January 27, 1996. the Court held a public hearing at its seat to allow the parties to voice their opinions on the reparations, indemnities and costs. The following persons attended the hearing: for the Venezuelan State: Asdrúbal Aguiar-Aranguren, Agent Ildegar Pérez-Segnini, Alternate Agent Guillermo Quintero, Advisor Rodolfo Enrique Piza-Rocafort, Advisor Raymond Aguiar, Observer; for the Inter-American Commission: Claudio Grossman, Delegate Oscar Luján-Fappiano, Delegate Milton Castillo, Attorney Juan Méndez, Assistant Ligia Bolívar, Assistant Walter Márquez, Assistant. 10. At the public hearing on reparations, the Government provided the following documentary evidence: two notes pertaining to the human development indicators in the