of February 12, 1999 (supra para. 53). The appeal indicated that “there are no eyewitnesses who can state with certainty that the detainees were involved in the incident.” It also alleged that the lineup resolved nothing.63 58. On April 21,1999, the Ninth Superior Criminal Court lifted the order of detention of Olimpiades González and Luis Guillermo González and confirmed the preventive detention of Wilmer Antonio Barliza. With respect to Olimpiades González and Luis Guillermo González, the Court indicated that the witnesses did not identify them as being armed during the death of C. F. With respect to Wilmer Antonio Barliza, that court maintained that there were witnesses who saw him at the scene of the crime and who identified him in the lineup and, thus, “the requirements of Article 182 of the Code of Criminal Procedure are met."64 That same day, release “tickets” were issued for Olimpiades González and Luis Guillermo González.65 C.3 Continuation and finalization of the criminal proceedings 59. On July 1, 1999, the new Organic Code of Criminal Procedure (hereinafter “the COPP”) entered into force.66 60. On July 30, 1999, the Fourth Prosecutor of the Public Ministry filed charges against Wilmer Antonio Barliza González, Fernando González, María Angélica González and Belkis Mirelis González for the crimes of homicide and the unlawful possession of firearms, pursuant to Articles 407 and 278 of the Criminal Code.67 Communication of the detainees to the First Judge of the First Court of March 5, 1999 (evidence file, Annex 5 of the Merits Report, fs. 152 to 154). 63 Decision of the Ninth Superior Criminal Court of April 21, 1999 (evidence file, Annex 9 of the Merits Report, f. 264 to 268). See also: Annex 5 of the Merits Report, fs. 160 and 161. 64 Release “tickets” of the Ninth Superior Criminal Court of April 21, 1999 (evidence file, Annex 5 of the Merits Report, fs. 162 and 163). 65 Cf. Written expert opinion of Magaly Mercedes Vásquez González. She stated that the new legislation “was inspired by the principles of hearings, equality, decisions de oficio and as basic principles of procedure, in oral proceedings, immediacy, unification of procedures and publicity; the exercise regarding criminal actions has been given to the Public Ministry; the role of the defense has been strengthened and the victim has been recognized as an active participant.” She added that “the figure of the Control Judge has been created.” She noted that in March 1998 “three institutions of the new Code had entered into force,” but did not say which. She also explained that the Commission that drafted the reform noted that it could not be implemented without the “modification of the collateral normative framework” and for that to occur the “laws of the Public Ministry, the Judiciary, the Judicial Career, the Code of Military Justice and the law that governs the attributes of the police” were amended. She noted that these modifications also entered into force on July 1, 1999. The expert also mentioned that, on December 30, 1999, a new Constitution entered into force that “included several principles contemplated” in the new legislation on criminal procedure. This legislation, according to the expert was then amended in November 2001, modifying provisions regarding the “restriction of liberty, […] not only of the accused but also of the convicted.” She informed that other reforms were made in October 2006, August 2008, September 2009 “and the most recent in force as of June 12, 2012.” The expert Nelson Orlando Mejía Durán stressed that “until 1999, the Venezuelan criminal procedural legislation was governed by an inquisitive system (Code of Criminal Procedure), in which one person, the judge, had the authority to conduct the investigation” and that this changed at the beginning of that year when it became a “mixed accusatory” system that, in the opinion of the expert, allowed the González family a process “more in line with due process” (cf. Written expert opinion of Nelson Orlando Mejía Durán (evidence file, fs. 2725 to 2734). 66 Accusation of the Fourth Prosecutor of the Public Ministry of the Criminal Judicial Circuit of Zulia of July 30, 1999 (evidence file, Annex 5 of the Merits Report, fs. 180 to 182). 67 17