30
that the company processed 1,000 m2 of marble, 35 to 40 percent of which was delivered to
the Bueno-Alves brothers for “installation;” and that he stopped seeing them around the
company “in mid-1988.” For his part, witness Roberto Horacio Serrago, who was allegedly
the president of “Todo Mármol,” stated that the Bueno-Alves brothers were “on high
demand in the marble business due to their work capacity and work quality;” that they were
craftsmen that worked with the appropriate machinery, materials and staff; that they were
recommended by the firm; that they worked on “major projects,” and that their relationship
with the company came to an end in 1988. In the supplement to his original statement, the
same witness said that Mr. Bueno-Alves and his brother were professional craftsmen who
worked in the marble business on a self-employed basis; that he cannot estimate “for
certain a fixed income for either one of the brothers;” and that both split their earnings in
equal parts. Finally, said witness made an estimate based on the “income from the marble
processed and delivered” by his company to the Bueno-Alves brothers. As per such
estimation, the brothers earned a “monthly net income” in the amount of US$ 7,740.00
(seven thousand seven hundred and forty United States dollars); i.e., each of them earned
US$ 3,870.00 (three thousand eight hundred and seventy United States dollars).
147. In the Court’s opinion, such statements show that Mr. Bueno-Alves and his brother
were well-reputed marble masons; notwithstanding, they do not allow estimating a figure
for the victim’s monthly income. The representative has not produced any other type of
documents such as receipts or invoices issued for their work, contracts signed with different
companies, or accounting books related to the Bueno-Alves brothers’ business. Another
aspect to be taken into consideration is that, as per the certificates issued by the
Administración Federal de Ingresos Públicos (Federal Public Revenue Service) and the
Administración Nacional de la Seguridad Social (National Social Security Agency) and
submitted by the State, there is no evidence that Mr. Bueno-Alves has paid taxes or social
security contributions on his alleged monthly income.
148. To sum up, the Court has not been furnished with enough documents to consider Mr.
Bueno-Alves’ alleged income proven and, accordingly, the Court does not consider it
appropriate to take into account the estimates made by accountant José Esteban Cornejo
and submitted by the representative, as they are based on a salary which remains
unproven.
149. At the request of the Court, the State submitted the official estimates for the real
and total pay of construction workers from 1988 to 2006,84 a report issued by the Instituto
Nacional de Estadísticas y Censos (National Institute of Statistics and Census) on the
indexes set for masonry and reinforced concrete labor categories from January 1993
through January 2007,85 and labor legislation.86
150. In this regard, the representative argued that “the index for t[he] average salary of a
salaried worker could not possibly be used, as [Mr.] Bueno-Alves was never a salaried
worker, considering that he was always a self-employed […] businessman.”
84
Cf. Report of the Ministry of Labor, Employment, and Social Security of March 6, 2007 (record of evidence
submitted by the State to facilitate adjudication of the case, Volume I, folios 5563 and 5664).
85
Cf. Report of the National Institute of Statistics and Census of March 9, 2007 (record of evidence
submitted by the State to facilitate adjudication of the case, Vol. I, folio 5642).
86
Cf. Labor Contract Law No. 20.744, Law No. 21.297. Labor Contract Regulations. Amendment to Labor
Contract Regulations approved by Law No. 20.744. Law No. 20.695 repealed; Labor Unions Law No. 23.551,
Collective Bargaining Agreement – Construction. Workers in general. 76/75 and Salary Agreements 83/05 (record
of evidence submitted by the State to facilitate adjudication of the case, Volume I, folios 5665 to 5810).
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