6
photographs that appeared as annexes 42, 43, 44, 59, 60, 61 and 62 of the
application, the addresses of the original complainants and the representatives of the
victims or their next of kin, with their respective powers of attorney and, also, the
missing or illegible annexes.
40.
On March 11, 1997, the Court received the corrected Spanish translation of
the application and the photographs that appeared as annexes 59 to 62.
41.
On March 14, 1997, the Secretariat of the Court sent the State a copy of the
corrected Spanish translation of the application and of the above-mentioned
annexes. Furthermore, on the same date, the Court requested the Commission to
send the annexes that were still missing.
42.
On March 30, 1997, Guatemala informed the court that it had designated Julio
Gándara Valenzuela, Guatemalan Ambassador to the Republic of Costa Rica, as its Agent.
43.
On April 2, 1997, Guatemala presented a brief in which it raised four
preliminary objections and requested the Court “to extend the term for responding to
the application until [the preliminary objections] [had been] resolved”.
44.
By Order of April 16, 1997, the Court declared “inadmissible the request by
the State of Guatemala for an extension of the period for responding to the
application” in the instant case and decided “to continue to process the case in
accordance with the respective procedural stages”.
45.
On April 18, 1997, the State informed the Court of an “error of substance in
the brief on preliminary objections” (capital letters in the original) and requested it to
deem “that it had not been presented [and] therefore, to abrogate the Order of the
Court of April 16, 1997” (capital letters in the original).
46.
By Order of April 18, 1997, the President of the Court decided “to deem the
brief on preliminary objections of April 2, 1997, not to have been presented”.
47.
On May 6, 1997, pursuant to Article 36 of the Rules of Procedure, the State
presented a brief in which it raised a single preliminary objection entitled
“Incompetence of the honorable Inter-American Court of Human Rights to hear […]
the instant case” (capital letters in the original).
48.
On May 21, 1997, the Commission presented part of the documentation
requested.
49.
On July 4, 1997, the State submitted its answer to the application and a copy
of this was forwarded to the Commission on July 8, 1997.
50.
On September 11, 1997, the Court delivered judgment on preliminary
objections, in which it unanimously resolved “[t]o dismiss as inadmissible the
preliminary objection brought by the State of Guatemala” and “[t]o continue to
examine the case”.
51.
On April 15, 1998, Guatemala advised the Court of the appointment of
Guillermo Argueta Villagrán, Guatemalan Ambassador to the Government of Costa
Rica, as the State Agent in this case, in substitution of Julio Gándara Valenzuela.