HAVING SEEN:

1.       That Article 69 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter "the Convention") establishes that:

[t]he parties to the case shall be notified of the judgment of the Court and it shall be transmitted to the States Parties to the Convention.

2.       That Article 57(1) of the Rules of Procedure of the Court (hereinafter “the Rules of Procedure”) establishes that:

[w]hen a case is ready for a judgment, the Court shall meet in private. A preliminary vote shall be taken, the wording of the judgment approved, and a date fixed for the public hearing at which the parties shall be so notified.

CONSIDERING:

1.       That the obligation established in Article 57(1) to hold a public hearing for notification of the judgments rendered in cases pending before the Court is not binding in the terms of the Convention, and may be waived in the interest of procedural economy and speed.

2.       That Article 69 of the Convention guarantees the rights of the parties to cases before the Court by establishing the process for notifying the Court’s decisions, which the Court may do without convening a hearing solely for that purpose.

DECIDES:

To amend Article 57(1) of its Rules of Procedure to read as follows:

When a case is ready for a judgment, the Court shall meet in private. A preliminary vote shall be taken, the wording of the judgment approved, and the parties shall be so notified by the Secretariat.