at the appropriate procedural moment; that is, during the admissibility procedure before the
Commission”60 should be understood because, as described, this covers from the moment the
petition is received and receives the initial processing by the Commission, through its
Executive Secretariat, until the moment at which the Commission rules on its admissibility.
However, this does not mean that it is only at this last moment that the said requirement
should have been met, without regard to whether or not it had been met previously.
D.
Decision on admissibility
74.
Indeed, Article 31(1) of these Rules of Procedure, entitled “Exhaustion of Domestic
Remedies,” establishes that:
“In order to decide on the admissibility of a matter, the Commission shall verify whether the
remedies of the domestic legal system have been pursued and exhausted in accordance with
the generally recognized principles of international law.”61
75.
It should be noted that this article indicates that, in order to decide on the admissibility
of a matter, the Commission must “verify” – in other words, confirm or validate 62 – whether
the remedies of the domestic legal system have been pursued and exhausted which, clearly,
should have occurred at least before adopting the corresponding decision. This rule does not
establish that this verification should be made in relation to remedies pursued and exhausted
following the presentation of the petition.
76.
Meanwhile, Article 32(1) of these Rules of Procedure, entitled “Statute of Limitations
for Petitions,” conforms to the above interpretation when indicating that:
“The Commission shall consider those petitions that are lodged within a period of six months
following the date on which the alleged victim has been notified of the decision that exhausted
the domestic remedies.”63
77.
In other words, this provision establishes the petitions whose admissibility will be
considered by the Commission and, to this end, reiterates the provisions of Article 46(1)(b)
of the Convention; that is, that the time frame for submitting them is calculated from the date
of notification of the final judgment of the domestic authorities or courts on the remedies that
have been filed before them, which are, consequently, those that could have given rise to the
international responsibility of the State, and this obviously means that, when the petition is
“lodged,” they must have been exhausted.
78.
That said, according to Article 36 of these Rules of Procedure, entitled “Decision on
Admissibility”:
“1. Once it has considered the positions of the parties, the Commission shall make a decision
on the admissibility of the matter. The reports on admissibility and inadmissibility shall be public
and the Commission shall include them in its Annual Report to the General Assembly of the OAS.
2. When an admissibility report is adopted, the petition shall be registered as a case and the
proceedings on the merits shall be initiated. The adoption of an admissibility report does not
constitute a prejudgment as to the merits of the matter.
3. In exceptional circumstances, and after having requested information from the parties in
accordance with the provisions of Article 30 of these Rules of Procedure, the Commission may
60
Para. 16.
61
Art. 31(1).
62
Diccionario de la Lengua Española, Real Academia Española, 2018 edition.
63
Art. 32(1).
17