46 66.13. on September 23, 1999 the Political Administrative Court of the Supreme Court of Justice accepted the request because it deemed that “given the significant number of victims, the persons allegedly responsible for those deaths (members of the military and police forces) as well as the social context in which they occurred, [said investigations] are exceptional in nature, and this nature was not taken into account by the bodies in charge of the investigation, as it is evident that to date, since there has been no decision regarding the aforementioned facts, there has been an aberrant denial of justice, the consequences of which have crossed the national borders, as exemplified by the claims filed against the Venezuelan State before international bodies due to the alleged violations of human rights which the courts, both under regular criminal jurisdiction and under special military jurisdiction, have been incapable of deciding in the course of ten years.” Based on these considerations and also that the “significant judicial delay, as well as the procedural disorder in processing the criminal trials, has constituted an offensive denial of justice,” the aforementioned Court decided to hear and decide on the respective cases. Furthermore, said Court decided that the provisions of the Organic Criminal Procedural Code would apply to proceedings begun after its entry into force, even if the punishable facts occurred before. Finally, the aforementioned Political-Administrative Court ordered the breakdown of the files of all the criminal investigations begun, to then open an individual file for each person who died or was wounded during the events involved in the cases removed to the higher court, with the aim of establishing the existence, if that were the case, of “administrative irregularities that might derive from the actions or omissions of those in charge of the trials and of the bodies intervening in them,” as well as to forward to the Public Prosecutor’s Office those cases in which there is sufficient evidence to presume criminal responsibility of certain persons in the facts of the case;45 66.14. on February 24, 2000 the Political-Administrative Court of the Supreme Court of Justice declared the conclusion of the jurisdictional function in connection with the transfer of the cases from the lower to the higher court, and ordered the 437 cases resulting from the breakdown of files on criminal investigations to be referred to the Attorney General of the Republic for the Attorney General to order and direct the investigation of the facts, pursuant to the provisions of the Organic Criminal Procedural Code, so as to establish the identity of the principals and abettors and participants and to carry out the appropriate actions against those who gave the orders, as well as against those who executed those orders;46 Republic of Venezuela on November 10, 1999, at the public hearing on the merits of the instant case. Volume I,” at the Secretariat of the Court). 45 Cf. September 23, 1999 order of the Political-Administrative Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela (file with evidence on El Caracazo Case, under the title “Documents submitted by the Republic of Venezuela on November 10, 1999, at the public hearing on the merits of the instant case. Volume I,” at the Secretariat of the Court). 46 Cf. report by the State on the current situation of the administrative or judicial proceedings undertaken to investigate the facts in the case (evidentiary file on the Caracazo Case, under the title “Evidence to facilitate adjudication, submitted by the State of Venezuela (August 13, 2002 brief),” at the Secretariat of the Court).