4 which they attached documentary evidence, and offered testimonial and expert evidence. 16. On December 8, 2004, Alejandro Sánchez Garrido submitted a sworn statement in which he accepted the office of judge ad hoc, and also a declaration of confidentiality regarding any information he obtained as a result of his functions. 17. On January 10, 2005, the State requested an extension of five working days in order to take “a decision on the person who would substitute Alejandro Sánchez Garrido,” who had been designated Judge ad hoc in the Case of Raxcacó Reyes. 18. On January 12, 2005, on the instructions of the President, the Secretariat informed the State that an extension could not be granted for the designation of a new judge ad hoc in the instant case, because it had already named one, who had accepted this office and, at that date, he had not submitted his resignation (supra para. 16). 19. On February 11, 2005, the State submitted its answer to the application together with its observations on the requests and arguments brief (hereinafter “answer to the application”), and offered testimonial evidence. 20. On March 30 and 31, 2005, on the instructions of the President, the Secretariat informed the parties that, having examined the principal briefs submitted by the Inter-American Commission, the representatives, and the State, the InterAmerican Court in plenary considered that it was unnecessary to convene a public hearing in the instant case. Also, the Secretariat requested the Inter-American Commission, the representatives, and the State to each forward their final list of witnesses and expert witnesses. 21. On May 4, 2005, the President issued an order stating that he considered it desirable to receive, by means of a statement made before notary public (affidavit), the testimony of Ronald Ernesto Raxcacó Reyes and Reyes Ovidio Girón Vásquez, offered by the Commission and the representatives; and of Eduardo Zachrisson Castillo, María Concepción Reinhardt Mosquera and Conchita Mazariegos Tobías, offered by the State; also the expert evidence of Alberto Martín Binder, offered by the Commission and the representatives, and of Aída Castro-Conde, offered by the representatives. The President granted a non-extendible period of seven days from the reception of these affidavits for the Commission, the representatives, and the State to submit any observations they deemed pertinent. In the same order, the President informed the parties that they had until June 6, 2005, to submit their final written arguments on merits and possible reparations and costs. Lastly, the President rejected the representatives’ request to hold a “hearing exclusively for oral arguments.” 22. On May 20, 2005, the representatives forwarded the statements made before public notary (affidavits) by the witnesses, Ronald Ernesto Raxcacó Reyes and Ovidio Girón Vásquez, and by the expert witness, Aída Castro-Cónde. They also forwarded the “testimony of Mr. Raxcacó Reyes taken by the notary, Rafael Francisco Cetina Gutiérrez on May 18, 2005, by a video recording,” and also the document in which this notary certified that he was present when the video of Mr. Raxcacó was recorded. 23. The same day, the State forwarded the statements made before public notary