expert witnesses be received by affidavit, and these were duly presented on August 24, 2012. In the Order the President also summoned the parties to a public hearing (infra para. 12). 12. The public hearing took place on September 5 and 6, 2012, during the ninety-sixth regular session of the Court held at its seat. 8 During the hearing, the statements of two presumed victims and four expert witnesses were received, together with the final oral observations and arguments of the Inter-American Commission, the representatives and the State, respectively. During this hearing, the Court required the parties and the Commission to submit certain helpful documentation and evidence. 13. In addition, the Court received 46 amicus curiae briefs submitted by: (1) Mónica Arango Olaya, Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Center for Reproductive Rights, and María Alejandra Cárdenas Cerón, the Center’s Legal Adviser; (2) Marcela Leandro Ulloa of the Group in Favor of IVF; (3) Filomena Gallo, Nicolò Paoletti and Claudia Sartori, representatives of the Association “Luca Coscioni per la libertà di ricerca scientifica y del Partito Radicale Nonviolento Transnazionale e Transpartito”; (4) Natalia Lopez Moratalla, President of the Spanish Association of Bioethics and Medical Ethics; (5) Lilian Sepúlveda, Mónica Arango, Rebecca J. Cook and Bernard M. Dickens; 9 (6) Equal Rights Trust and the Human Rights Clinic of the University of Texas Law School; 10 (7) International Human Rights Clinic of Santa Clara University Law School; 11 (8) Viviana Bohórquez Monsalve, Beatriz Galli, Alma Beltrán y Puga, Álvaro Herrero, Gastón Chillier, Lourdes Bascary and Agustina Ramón Michel; 12 (9) Ricardo Tapia, Rodolfo Vásquez and Pedro Morales; 13 (10) Alejandro Leal Esquivel, Coordinator of the Department of Genetics and Biotechnology of the School of Biology of the Universidad de Costa Rica; (11) Rita Gabriela Cháves Casanova, Member of the Legislative Assembly of Costa Rica; (12) Alexandra Loría Beeche; (13) Claudio Grossman, Dean of the American University Washington College of Law, and Macarena Sáez Torres, Director of the Impact Litigation Project of the American University Washington College of Law; (14) John O’Brien, President 8 The following persons appeared at the hearing: (a) for the Inter-American Commission: Tracy Robinson, Commissioner, Emilio Álvarez-Icaza, Executive Secretary, Elizabeth Abi-Mershed, Deputy Executive Secretary, and Silvia Serrano Guzmán, Legal Adviser; (b) for the representative Huberth May Cantillano: Huberth May Cantillano, representative of the presumed victims, and Antonio Trejos Mazariegos, lawyer; (c) for the representative Boris Molina Acevedo: Boris Molina Acevedo, representative of the presumed victims, William Vega Murillo, lawyer, Alicia Neuburger, Maria Lorna Ballestero Muñóz, Alejandro Villalobos Castro, Alejandra Cárdenas Cerón, Carlos Valerio Monge, Boris Molina Mathiew, Mauricio Hernández Pacheco and Ángela Rebeca Martínez Ortiz, and (d) for the State of Costa Rica: Ana Lorena Brenes Esquivel, Attorney General, Agent of the State of Costa Rica, Magda Inés Rojas Chaves, Agent of the State of Costa Rica, and Alonso Ernesto Moya, Silvia Patiño Cruz, Ana Gabriela Richmond Solís, Grettel Rodríguez Fernández and Jorge Oviedo Álvarez, officials of the Attorney General’s Office. 9 Lilian Sepúlveda is the Director of the Center for Reproductive Rights, Mónica Arango Olaya is the Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean of the Center. Rebecca J. Cook and Bernard M. Dickens are coDirectors of the International Reproductive and Sexual Health Law Programme of the Faculty of Law of the University of Toronto. 10 The brief was signed by Ariel E. Dulitzky, Professor of the University of Texas Law School and Director of the School’s Human Rights Clinic. 11 The brief was submitted by Francisco J. Rivera Juaristi, Director and Supervising Attorney of the International Human Rights Clinic of Santa Clara University Law School; Britton Schwartz, Supervising Attorney of the Clinic and Amanda Snyder, Bernadette Valdellon and Sophia Areias, interns at said clinic. 12 Viviana Bohórquez Monsalve, member of the Mesa por la Vida and la Salud de las Mujeres; Beatriz Galli, member of IPAS, Alma Beltrán and Puga, Legal Coordinator of the Grupo de Información de Reproducción Elegida (GIRA); Álvaro Herrero, Executive Director of the Asociación por los Derechos Civiles; Gastón Chillier, Executive Director of the Center for Legal and Social Studies (CELS); Lourdes Bascary, member of the Center for Legal and Social Studies, and Agustina Ramón Michel, intern attached to the Health Area of CEDES. 13 Ricardo Tapia is the President of the Colegio de Bioética A.C. (Mexico). Rodolfo Vásquez is the Vice President of this group and Pedro Morales is its Executive Secretary.