Inter-American Court of Human Rights Case of Constantine et al. v. Trinidad and Tobago Judgment of September 1, 2001 (Preliminary Objections) In the Constantine et al. case, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Court”, “the Court” or “the Tribunal”), composed of the following judges: Antônio A. Cançado Trindade, President; Máximo Pacheco-Gómez, Vice-President; Hernán Salgado-Pesantes, Judge; Oliver Jackman, Judge; Alirio Abreu-Burelli, Judge; Sergio García-Ramírez, Judge, and Carlos Vicente de Roux-Rengifo, Judge; also present, Manuel E. Ventura-Robles, Secretary, and Pablo Saavedra-Alessandri, Deputy Secretary; pursuant to Article 36 of its Rules of Procedure1 (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”), delivers the following judgment on the preliminary objection filed by the State of Trinidad and Tobago (hereinafter “the State” or “Trinidad and Tobago”). I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE 1) The present case was submitted to the Court by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Commission” or “the Commission”) on February 22, 2000. The Commission’s application originates from petitions number 11,787 (George Constantine), 11,814 (Wenceslaus James), 11,840 (Denny Baptiste), 11,851 (Clarence Charles), 11,853 (Keiron Thomas), 11,855 (Anthony Garcia), 12,005 (Wilson Prince), 12,021 (Darrin Roger Thomas), 12,042 (Mervyn Edmund), 12,043 (Samuel Winchester), 12,052 (Martin Reid), 12,072 (Rodney Davis), 12,073 (Gangadeen Tahaloo), 12,075 (Noel Seepersad), 12,076 (Wayne Matthews), 12,082 (Alfred Frederick), 12,093 (Natasha De Leon), 12,111 (Vijay Mungroo), 12,112 (Phillip Chotalal), 12,129 (Naresh Boodram and Joey 1 In accordance with the Court’s Order of March 13, 2001 regarding Transitory Provisions of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, the instant Judgment on the preliminary objection is delivered according to the norms of the Rules of Procedure adopted in the Court’s Order of September 16, 1996.