Respondent State’s Submissions on the Merits 89. As indicated under the procedure, the Respondent State did not submit any observations on the merits despite being given more time than it is provided in the Commission’s Rules of Procedure and despite the reminder sent. Analysis of the Commission on the Merits 90. In accordance with the provisions of Rule 105(1) of the Commission’s Rules of Procedure, the parties have sixty (60) days to present arguments and evidence on the merits. The Secretariat ensures that submissions are transmitted to the other party and that the deadline is respected.13 In the present Communication, the Commission notes that the above procedure was indeed respected. However, due to time constraints, the Commission deferred its consideration of the Communication to its successive sessions. As such, the Respondent State enjoyed an implicit additional period of nine (9) months in addition to the period of two (2) months provided in the Rules of Procedure. 91. Moreover, the Secretariat sent a reminder letter to the Respondent State, following the decision adopted by the Commission during its 17th Extraordinary Session (February 2015) to grant a final one-month deadline to parties that did not submit observations within the deadline stipulated in the Rules of Procedure. Despite these letters sent by DHL, the Respondent State failed to submit the required observations. As such, the Commission decides to consider the Communication on the basis of the information in its possession, in accordance with its practice.14 13 14 See Rule 105(2). See Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa v. Angola Communication 292/04 (2008) AHRLR 43 (ACHPR 2008) para. 34. Also see Social and Economic Rights Action Center & Center for Economic and 25