39 91. Identity card No. 661077 establishes that the victim was born on July 25, 1962; in other words, she was 25.6 years of age at the date of her death. 92. On this identity card, it is stated that her profession was office assistant, but on her death certificate she appears as a housewife. Yet, in their statements, her next of kin claim that she was an expert accountant and worked as such. However, there is no document that certifies in which institution she trained as an expert accountant. The State does not accept the claim of the victim’s next of kin because Mrs. Paniagua Morales did not appear as an expert accountant in the Ministry of Public Finance, which is a requirement to exercise the profession, and there are no tax declarations to prove this point. 93. The Court cannot accept that the victim had studied economics at the university, as there are divergencies in the testimony with regard to the indication that she studied at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. Her own mother declared before the Court that this was not true and this higher education establishment certified that Anna Elizabeth Paniagua Morales had not been a student in any of its academic units. 94. In these circumstances and owing to the lack of evidence, it is difficult to foresee that the victim would have been able to study at the university eventually and complete the program of studies in economics. The Court is inclined to accept that the victim worked as a bookkeeper and, consequently, the pecuniary damage corresponding to the loss of earnings suffered by the victim should be based on the salary that she earned as a bookkeeper. 95. The Court observes that the minimum salary for an administrative employee was Q150.00 (one hundred and fifty quetzales) at the time the victim died. From the preceding information, the Court grants the amount of five minimum salaries for this type of activity in favor of the victim; that is, the sum of Q750.00 (seven hundred and fifty quetzales), which is equivalent to US$294.00 (two hundred and ninety-four United States dollars) as the monthly salary of a bookkeeper. The calculation will be made on the basis of 12 salaries a year, plus the corresponding annual bonuses, in accordance with Guatemalan norms (supra 87.1.b.). These are the earnings that the victim would presumably have enjoyed during her life expectancy of 48.33 years, the period from the victim’s age at the time of the facts until the end of the life expectancy of a woman in Guatemala in 1988 (supra 87.2.d.). 25% must be deducted from this amount for personal expenses. The resulting amount must then be brought to its value at the date of the judgment. Consequently, the amount for this item is US$108.759.00 (one hundred and eight thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine United States dollars). 96. According to the criteria established by this Court, the fact that the victim had formed a household and that, as a result, her daughter, María Elisa Meza Paniagua, was born, makes the latter the primary successor of any benefit corresponding to Anna Elizabeth Paniagua Morales (supra 83). Owing to the foregoing, this Court considers that it is appropriate to grant María Elisa Meza Paniagua, the amount recognized in the previous paragraph. * * *

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