principles of international law.” Nonetheless, Article 46(2) provides that this requirement shall not apply whenever: (a) the domestic legislation of the state concerned does not afford due process of law for the protection of the right or rights that have allegedly been violated; (b) the party alleging violation of his rights has been denied access to the remedies under domestic law or has been prevented from exhausting them; or, (c) there has been unwarranted delay in rendering a final judgment under the aforementioned remedies. 34. Without getting into an analysis of the arguments put forth by the parties concerning the alleged violation of judicial guarantees and judicial protection, the InterAmerican Commission observes, preliminarily, that as of the date of the approval of this report, more than eight years have gone by since the murder of Marcia Barbosa. The incident was duly reported to the authorities, but neither a police investigation or a prosecutorial accusation could go forward, for the suspect enjoyed legislative immunity. This last obstacle was removed once he was no longer a member of the legislature. Moreover, Constitutional Amendment No. 35/2001 was passed into law, and an indictment was handed down against the former legislator on July 27, 2005. 35. That the actions against the suspect were taken up anew in March 2003 is taken as true, for the State did not refute this fact. As of the date of the preparation of this report, it is said that more than four years have elapsed since the judicial procedure was reopen and recently the case would have been included on the docket to be tried on September 26, 2007 by the competent organ. Since the punishable act occurred, as has already been said, more than eight years have gone by without any determination of who was responsible for it. 36. In addition, the Inter-American Commission observes that the petitioners allege that the facts of the case unfold in a context of cases in which women are victims of violence, which is expressed in an excessive delay in its processing, resulting in impunity for the perpetrators of these acts. While the State alleges that the judicial process is advancing accordingly to the law, it has not presented information that expresses or justifies the time length it has taken to the judicial process. 37. In light of all the foregoing, and from the documents in the record of this matter, the Inter-American Commission establishes – for purposes of admissibility – that there has been an unwarranted delay in the decision of the judicial bodies of Brazil with respect to the facts alleged. Accordingly, the IACHR applies to this matter the exception to the prior exhaustion requirement found at Article 46(2)(c) of the American Convention. 3. Time period for submission 38. Under Article 46(1)(b) of the American Convention, it is an admissibility requirement that petitions be submitted within six months of notice to the injured party of the judgment exhausting domestic remedies. 39. Article 32(2) of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission mandates that in those cases in which exceptions to the prior exhaustion requirement apply, the petition should be submitted in a reasonable time, based on the Commission’s judgment: To this end, the