3 II PROCEEDING BEFORE THE COURT 6. The application was notified to the representative and to the State on November 17 and 18, 2008, respectively. During the proceeding before this Tribunal, apart from the filing of the main briefs forwarded by the parties (supra para. 1, 4 and 5), the President of the Court (hereinafter, the "President") issued an Order3 requesting the forwarding of three testimonies rendered by affidavit, timely offered by the representatives. Furthermore, the President convened the parties to a public hearing in order to listen to the statements of the alleged victim, the witnesses and expert witnesses proposed, as applicable, by the Commission, the State and the representative, as well as the final arguments on the merits and the possible reparations and costs. Finally, the President ordered the parties to present the respective briefs containing the final arguments no later than August 6, 2009. 7. The public hearing was held on July 2, 2009 during the LXXXIII Period of Ordinary Sessions of the Court, at the seat of the Court in the city of San José, Costa Rica.4 8. On July 1, 2009 the Tribunal received an Amicus curiae brief from Círculo Bolivariano Yamileth López [Yamileth López Bolivarian Circle].5 Said brief referred, inter alia, to the implementation of the adversarial system in Venezuela. 9. On July 31, 2009, the representative filed the brief containing the final arguments. The briefs of the State and of the Commission were received on August 6, 2009. The State forwarded additional documentary evidence. 10. On August 28, 2009 the representative filed an objection to the documentary evidence forwarded by the State together with the final arguments, considering that it was "time-barred". The Commission made no observations. 11. On September 22, 2009 the President requested the representative to forward, as evidence to facilitate adjudication of the case, a non-certified copy of the decision dated May 18, 2004 by means of which the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the judicial detention of Mr. Barreto Leiva. The representative forwarded said evidence five days after the date established to such end, on October 7, 2009. On October 21, 2009, the Commission noted that said evidence allowed to confirm one of the violations alleged by it. The State presented no observations. III COMPETENCE 12. The Inter- American Court has jurisdiction over this case in accordance with Article 62(3) of the American Convention, given the fact that Venezuela has been a State Party to the American Convention since August 9, 1977 and has accepted the binding jurisdiction of the Tribunal on June 24, 1981. 3 Cf. Case of Barreto Leiva V. Venezuela. Order of the President of the Court of May 21, 2009. 4 To this hearing, there appeared: a) on behalf of the Inter-American Commission: Delegate Paulo Sergio Pinheiro and Adviser Juan Pablo Albán Alencastro; b) on behalf of the alleged victim: Representative Carlos Armando Figueredo Planchard, and adviser Carlos Rafael Pérez, and c) on behalf of the State: Agent Germán Saltrón Negretti, and Deputy Agent Gonzalo González Vizcaya. 5 Said brief was filed by María del Milagro Solís Aguilar, Oscar Barrantes Rodríguez, Hans Barboza Rojas, Edgar Rodríguez Sancho, Rodrigo Quirós Castro and Lisandro Cordón Vega.