I INTRODUCTION OF THE CASE AND PURPOSE OF THE DISPUTE 1. The case before the Court. – On October 26, 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (hereinafter also "Commission" or "Inter-American Commission") submitted to the jurisdiction of the Court the case "Víctor Henr[r]y Mina Cuero"1 against the Republic of Ecuador (hereinafter also "State,” "Ecuadorian State," or "Ecuador"). According to the Commission, the case relates to the alleged international responsibility of the Ecuadorian State for a series of violations that were allegedly committed in the context of the disciplinary process that led to the dismissal of Mr. Mina Cuero from his position as a police officer. The Commission concluded that the Ecuadorian State is responsible for the violation of the rights to judicial guarantees, the principle of legality, and judicial protection enshrined in Articles 8(1), 8(2)(b), 8(2)(c), 8(2)(d), 8(2)(h), 9, and 25(1) of the American Convention on Human Rights, in relation to Articles 1(1) and 2 of the same international instrument, to the detriment of Victor Henrry Mina Cuero. 2. Procedure before the Commission. – The procedure before the Commission was as follows: a) Petition. – On March 11, 2002, Mr. Víctor Henrry Mina Cuero presented the initial petition to the Commission. b) Admissibility and Merits Report. – In a communication dated August 27, 2003, the Commission notified the application of Article 37(3) of its Rules of Procedure, in effect at that time, to defer the treatment of admissibility until the debate and decision on the merits. The Committee approved Admissibility and Merits Report No. 63/18 (hereinafter also "Merits Report" or "Report No. 63/18") on May 8, 2018, in which it reached a series of conclusions and made various recommendations to the State. 3. Notification to the State. – The Merits Report was notified to the State in a communication dated July 26, 2018, and a period of two months was granted to report on compliance with the recommendations made. The Commission granted eight extensions of the deadline. 4. Submission to the Court. – On October 26, 2020, the Commission submitted to the Court all the facts and human rights violations in the case. As indicated, "taking into account the need to obtain justice and reparation for the [alleged] victim."2 This Court is deeply concerned that approximately eighteen years passed between lodging the initial petition to the Commission and submitting the case to the Court. 5. Requests of the Commission. – Based on the above, the Commission asked the Court to declare the international responsibility of the State for the same violations indicated in its Merits Report. The Commission also requested the Court to order the State to take various reparative measures, which are detailed and analyzed in Chapter VIII of this Judgment. II 1 Although the Merits Report included the name of the alleged victim as "Henry", the corresponding identification card issued by the National Police of Ecuador showed the name as "Henrry." 2 The Commission appointed its delegate to the Court as the then Commissioner Antonia Urrejola Noguera, and designated Marisol Blanchard, then Deputy Executive Secretary, Jorge Humberto Meza Flores, and Christian González Chacón, then lawyers of the Executive Secretariat, as legal advisers.