8 23) On October 20, 1999, the Secretariat of the Court transmitted to the InterAmerican Commission the State’s arguments in relation to the preliminary objection. The Commission responded on November 19, 1999. 24) On June 16, 2000, the President of the Court resolved to convene the parties to a public hearing, to take place at the seat of the Court on August 10, 2000, to hear the arguments on the preliminary objection. 25) The public hearing was held at the seat of the Court on the established date. There appeared: for the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago Russell Martineau, S.C.; Howard Stevens, Barrister; and Peter Pursglove, Barrister and Attorney-at-Law, Legal Adviser in the Ministry of the Attorney General and Legal Affairs. for the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Robert K. Goldman, Delegate; Nicholas Blake Q.C., Delegate; and Brian Tittemore, Legal Advisor. 26) On May 7, 2001, the Secretariat received from the Commission copies of two decisions pertinent to cases on the imposition of the “mandatory death penalty”, issued by the United Nations Human Rights Committee and the Court of Appeals for the Eastern Caribbean. These decisions were transmitted to the State on May 15, 2001. On December 13, 1999 and August 10, 2000, Messrs. Vaughan Lowe and Carlos Vargas Pizarro, respectively, also filed amicus curiae briefs. VI JURISDICTION 27) Trinidad and Tobago deposited its instrument of ratification to the American Convention on May 28, 1991. On the same date, the State recognized the compulsory jurisdiction of the Court. 28) On May 26, 1998, Trinidad and Tobago denounced the Convention and, pursuant to Article 78 of the same instrument, this denunciation took effect one year later, on May 26, 1999. The facts, to which the instant case refers, occurred prior to the effective date of the State’s denunciation. Consequently, the Court has jurisdiction, under the terms of Articles 78(2) and 62(3) of the Convention, to entertain the present case and render a judgment on the State’s preliminary objection. VII PRELIMINARY OBJECTION: INADMISSIBILITY OF THE COMPLAINT AND LACK OF JURISDICTION OF THE COURT