9. On March 13, 2012, the representatives submitted a brief in which they asked the Court, inter alia, to require the State to present certain official documents.6 On March 23, 2011, the President decided not to admit the said brief and informed the representatives that it would not be forwarded to the other parties, because it had not been requested by either the Court or its President. 10. On March 20, 2012, the President of the Court issued an Order, 7 in which he summoned the Inter-American Commission, the representatives, and the State to a public hearing (infra para. 13) to receive the testimony of two presumed victims, one witness and one expert witness, as well as the final oral arguments of the representatives and of the State and the final oral observations of the Commission, on the State’s acknowledgment of responsibility, and on the merits, reparations and costs. Furthermore, the President ordered that the statements of four presumed victims, two witnesses, and six expert witnesses be received by affidavit,8 and they were presented on April 20, 2012, with the exception of one expert opinion.9 The representatives and the State were granted the opportunity to make observations and pose questions to the deponents offered by the opposing party. In addition, in the above-mentioned Order, the President admitted the State’s offer to present an actuarial report on the compensation to be granted to the victims in this case. 11. On March 21, 2010, the President asked the State, under Article 58(b) of the Court’s Rules, to forward “a copy of the complete record of the domestic criminal proceedings in relation to this case.” On April 23, 2012, the State submitted eight documents corresponding to the criminal case file, but asked that only the Court review the file. In this regard, on May 11, 2012, the Court decided, based on the adversarial principle and bearing in mind the State’s acknowledgement of responsibility, not to forward this case file to the parties or to incorporate it into the body of evidence in this case. However, under Article 58(c) of its Rules of Procedure, the Court requested the Attorney General’s Office of the Republic of Guatemala to present a report on the criminal investigation in this case. 10 On May 23, 2012, the representatives requested the reconsideration of the said decision. In accordance with Article 31(3) of the Court’s Rules of Procedure, on June 22, 2012, the parties were informed that the Court’s decision was not subject to review. 12. On April 18, 2012, the representatives informed the Court of the discovery and identification of the mortal remains of “three [persons] whose disappearance is described in the Diario Militar,” but who are not presumed victims in this case, and requested their admission as evidence relating to a supervening fact. In addition, on this occasion, they presented copies of the death certificates of several next of kin of the presumed victims “who have died in recent months.” 6 The representatives asked the Court to require the State to present official documents of the Guatemalan Army, as well as the Historical Archive of the National Police and a copy of the “complete file of the criminal investigation” in the instant case. The representatives had already made this request in their pleadings and motions brief and was reiterated subsequently in their final written arguments (infra para. 43). 7 Cf. Case of Gudiel Álvarez et al. (Diario Militar) v. Guatemala. Order of the President of the Court of March 20, 2012, which can be consulted on the Court’s website at: http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/Asuntos/ gudiel_20_03_12.pdf. 8 witness. 9 The representatives withdrew one expert witness and the request to require the State to produce a The Commission did not present the expert opinion of Ernesto Villanueva Villanueva. 10 Specifically, a request was made to the Attorney General's Office to present a report “on the actions taken and progress made in the criminal investigation in this case, summarizing and detailing the measures taken, those that are being implemented, and those that are pending, as well as the results obtained.” -7-