- 82 - reparations and the respective amounts owed in this case, taking into account that the State awarded compensation at the domestic level under two administrative proceedings. D.1 Pecuniary damage 243. The Commission asked that the Court “establish, based on equity, the amount of the compensation for indirect damage and loss of potential earnings.” While, the representatives indicated that “the compensation ordered in the [domestic] judgments did not correspond to the true scope of the State’s responsibility and, consequently, it was substantially insufficient and partial”; in addition, the criteria used in these proceedings did not correspond to the standards of the inter-American system. Regarding the amount awarded for loss of earnings, the representatives affirmed that the State used different criteria and calculation methods from those used by the Court, and that the State awarded the compensation to Olga Navia Soto, Manuel Cepeda’s common-law wife at the time of his death, excluding his children, Iván and María Cepeda Castro, from the payment. Therefore, they asked the Court to recognize the sum of US$1,187,519.00,331 less the amount recognized in the domestic proceedings and, since Olga Soto Navia was deceased, they urged that the amount that would have corresponded to her, be delivered in equal parts to each of the Senator’s children; that is, 50% each. With regard to the indirect damage, the representatives affirmed that the State should compensate the most representative expenses that the next of kin of Senator Cepeda Vargas had incurred over 16 years in their search to obtain justice, for the alteration of their life projects, and for the trips abroad they had to make. 244. The State considered that the request for a payment for loss of potential earnings in favor of the children of Manuel Cepeda Vargas was inadmissible, because, at the time of his death they were adults and were not financially dependent on him, so that their father’s death did not cause them any pecuniary damage. Furthermore, the State argued that “the victim’s son and daughter did not ask for any compensation for pecuniary damage for themselves based on the death of Manuel Cepeda under the administrative proceedings, and had agreed with the distribution of the compensation for loss of earnings made by the administrative court; evidence of this is that they did not appeal the decision, even though they could have done so.” In addition, the State asked that the Court take into account the financial reparations already awarded and not order additional amounts of compensation for the next of kin who had already been compensated. Also, when admitting that the Court could order indirect damages, because proceedings under administrative law did not cover this, the State indicated that the relationship of cause and effect had not been proved, in particular concerning the allegations relating to Article 22 of the Convention, and it asked that any expenses related to access to justice be excluded from this concept, as they correspond to costs and expenses. 245. In the instant case, the Court has verified that two administrative proceedings were held. In one of them, based on criteria established in the domestic jurisdiction, Olga Navia Soto was awarded the sum of 910,308,742.00 Colombian pesos as 331 They indicated that this calculation was based on the total value of the Senator’s salary, less the amounts corresponding to the legal deductions – which included payments for taxes and insurance, and health care and pensions contributions – and the result, brought to its current value, was the amount used to calculate compensation. In addition, they took into account that Senator Cepeda’s political career was in ascent and that it was very probable, that if he had not been murdered, he would be one of the few opposition voices that remained on the political scene.