Universal-Womens-accesss-to-justice-Publications-Practitioners-Guide-Series-2016-ENG

332 PRACTITIONERS GUIDE No. 12
with no observations received, the Commission verifies whether
the grounds for the petition exist or subsist. 883 The Commission
establishes a working group of three or more of its members to
study, between sessions, the admissibility of the complaint and
make recommendations to the plenary. 884 Once the
Commission has considered the positions of the parties, it
makes a decision as to admissibility. The Commission’s reports
on admissibility are public and are included in its Annual Report
to the General Assembly of the OAS. When an admissibility
report is adopted, the petition is registered as a case and
proceedings on the merits are initiated. 885
Procedure on the merits: Upon opening the case, the
Commission sets a period of four months for the petitioner(s)
to submit additional observations on the merits. The pertinent
parts of those observations are transmitted to the State in
question so that it may submit its observations within a further
four months. 886 The Commission asks whether the parties are
interested in a friendly settlement. The Commission may carry
out on-site investigations and may call for a hearing. 887 The
Commission then deliberates on the merits of the case. If the
Commission establishes that there has been no violation in a
given case, it indicates this in its report on the merits. The
report will be transmitted to the parties, and published in the
Commission’s Annual Report to the OAS General Assembly. If
the Commission establishes one or more violations, it prepares
a preliminary report with the proposals and recommendations it
deems pertinent and transmits it to the State in question. In so
doing, the Commission sets a deadline by which the State in
question must report on the measures adopted to comply with
883
See, Article 30, IACHR Rules of Procedure.
884
See, Article 35, ibid.
885
See, Article 36, ibid.
886
See, Article 37, ibid. Procedure for the hearings is in Articles 61-69,
ibid.
887
See, Articles 39 and 43, ibid.