79 v) “as it is recognized by almost all national text writers, military criminal procedures in peacetime are similar to ordinary inquisitorial criminal procedures. Such procedures in Chile have been reformed as a result of their incompatibility with the guarantees of due process as enshrined by the American Convention;” vi) in the proceedings brought against Mr. Palamara for the criminal offense of contempt of authority, several prosecutors took part who did not have the required independence as they were “lay Prosecutors” (fiscales no letrados).” Prosecutors who conduct the preliminary investigations in the cases under the naval jurisdiction are known as naval prosecutors and are appointed by the President of the Republic, while “lay Prosecutors” (fiscales no letrados) are appointed by the pertinent Commander-in-Chief, among subordinate naval officers when a Prosecutor must be replaced; and vii) the structure and organization of the Chilean military justice affects the independence and impartiality of officials, thus breaching not only Article 8(1) of the Convention, but also the right of every person to judicial protection pursuant to the provisions of Article 25 thereof, “as the State does not grant an effective domestic remedy for the defense of the rights of those who have been subjected to judicial proceedings.” d) Regarding the right to defense (Article 8(2)(d) of the Convention), the representatives argued that: i) the provisions of the Code of Military Justice -which sets forth a number of limitations which unduly restrict the right to defense- were applied in the proceedings brought against Mr. Palamara. The participation of the defense counsel at the investigation stage is minimal and it is the naval prosecutor who has the control of the proceedings and takes all evidentiary procedures at this stage. As these are written, trial becomes a mere repetition of what was done during the investigation proceedings, which are not public, though they are the most relevant stage regarding the evidence. ii) the violation of the right to defense is a problem inherent to the structure of military criminal procedures, which are based on the military criminal legislation in force in Chile; iii) the weakness of the defense is evident in the indictment. The drafting of the writ of indictment, added to the confidentiality of the investigation proceedings, prevent having access to the information about the merits of the investigation and the charges; iv) “given the importance of the investigation stage of the proceedings and the infringement of rights that takes place during this stage, a person must have all the judicial guarantees recognized by the Convention.” Therefore, Mr. Palamara “should have been in a position to challenge the evidence gathered against him by the Naval Prosecutor at that time,