of the answering brief, the Court in plenary determined, based on Article 41(1) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, that the said brief was inadmissible because it was time-barred. 7. Access to the Victims’ Legal Assistance Fund. In an Order of December 1, 2011, the President of the Court declared admissible the request filed by the presumed victims, through their representatives, to access the Victims’ Legal Assistance Fund, and approved the award of the necessary financial assistance for the presentation of a maximum of three statements, either by affidavit or at the public hearing, and the appearance of one of the representatives at the hearing.6 8. Public hearing. In an Order of May 31, 2012, the President convened the parties to a public hearing, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2012, during the Court’s ninety-fifth session, which took place at its seat.7 At the hearing, the statements of two presumed victims were received, as well as the observations and final oral arguments of the InterAmerican Commission, the representatives, and the State. During this hearing, the Court asked the parties and the Commission to submit certain helpful documentation and clarifications. The President also ordered, among other matters, the reception of various affidavits in the instant case8 (infra para. 25). 9. Amici curiae. The Court also received amicus curiae briefs from the following institutions:9 the “Bartolomé de las Casas” Human Rights Institute of the Universidad Carlos III of Madrid;10 the Human Rights Clinic of the Loyola Law School of Los Angeles;11 the Equal Rights Trust;12 the Asylum and Human Rights Clinic of the Boston University School of Law,13 and the Consejo Latinoamericano de Estudiosos de Derecho Internacional y Comparado [the Latin American Council of International and Comparative Law Scholars], Dominican Republic chapter (COLADIC-RD).14 6 Cf. Order of the President of the Court of December 1, 2011. Case of Nadege Dorzema et al. v. Dominican Republic. Victims’ Legal Assistance Fund. Available at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/fondo_victimas/nadege _fv_11.pdf. 7 There appeared at the hearing: (a) for the Inter-American Commission: Rosa María Ortiz, Commissioner, Karla Quintana Osuna, Secretariat specialist; (b) for the representatives: Bernard Duhaime, International Clinic for the Defense of Human Rights of the Université du Québec a Montréal (CIDDHU); Natalia Lippman Mazzaglia, CIDDHU; Christopher Campbell-Duruflé, CIDDHU; Colette Lespinasse, Grupo de Apoyo a los Repatriados y Refugiados (GARR); Antonio Pol Emil, Dominican-Haitiian Cultural Center (CCDH); Roberto Antuan, CCDH; Amarilis Espinal, CCDH, and Manuel de Jesús Dandre, interpreter, and (c) for the State: Néstor Cerón Suero, Ambassador of the Dominican Republic to Costa Rica, Adviser; Bernardo Ureña Bueno, Deputy Attorney General of the Armed Forces, Agent; Jose Marcos Iglesias Iñigo, Permanent Agent of the Dominican Republic before the Inter-American Court, Deputy Agent, and Jose Casado-Liberato, Lawyer, Human Rights Analyst for OAS matters, Adviser. 8 Cf. Order of the President of the Court of May 31, 2012. Case of Nadege Dorzema v. Dominican Republic. Available at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/asuntos/nadege_31_05_12.pdf. 9 The brief of the Centro de Estudios Legales and Sociales (CELS) was declared time-barred, owing to late presentation. 10 Signed by Miguel Angel Ramiro Avilés, 11 Signed by Cesare Romano, Juan Pablo Albán, Juan M. Amaya Castro, Donald K. Anton, Freya Baetens, Caroline Bettinger‐López, Nerina Boschiero, Matthew E. B. Brotmann, Bartram S. Brown, David James Cantor, Gabriella Citroni, Niccolò A. Figà‐Talamanca, Stefan Kirchner, Konstantinos D. Magliveras, Nathan Miller, Jacqueline M. Nolan‐Haley, Manfred Nowak, Belén Olmos Giupponi, Jordan J. Paust, Cristina Ponce, Miguel Ángel Ramiro Avilés, Margherita Salvadori, Jaume Saura, Tullio Scovazzi, Anna Spain and Matthew Zagor. 12 Signed by Dimitrina Petrova, Catherine Casserley, Schona Jolly, Christopher Milsom and Catriona Stirling. 13 Signed by Guy S. Goodwin-Gill, Caroline Bettinger-López, David Abraham, Perveeen Ali, David C. Baluarte, Jon Bauer, Faisal Bhabha, Lauren Carasik, Jessica Chicco, George E. Edwards, Martin S. Flaherty, Mary M. Gundrum, Anjum Gupta, Barbara E. Harrell-Bond, Chester D. Hooper, Cornelius Hurley, Deena R. Hurwitz, Francisco J. Rivera Juaristi, Daniel Kanstroom, Harvey Kaplan, Gil Loescher, Karen Pita Loor, Miram H. Martom, Michelle McKinley, Fabiano L. de Menezes, Jennifer Moore, Karen Musalo, Salima Namusobya, Obiora Chinedu Okafor, Aaron Marr Page, Marselha Gonçalves Margerin, Robert D. Sloane, Tom Syring and Deborah M. Weissman. 14 Signed by Boris de León Reyes, President of COLADIC-RD, Paola C. Pelletier Quiñones, Coordinator from December 2011 to March 2012, and Ansel Patricia Sierra Ferreira, Coordinator from April to June 2012, and with 6