98
judicial proceedings filed by the victims or their representatives in the domestic
jurisdiction, and those incurred at the international level by processing the case
before the Commission and filing the application before the Court.
Arguments of the representatives
113. The victims’ representatives requested the Court to order payment of costs
and expenses. They stated that:
a)
The Court has understood that lawyers who assist victims or their next
of kin must incur some expenditure when processing the case before the
organs of the inter-American system for the protection of human rights, and
has provided for the injured party to be granted compensation so as to
reimburse such expenses, and
b)
They requested the Court to order a payment for legal fees, for the
time that the personnel of the legal area of CALDH devoted to providing
advice in this case, and other expenditure. This amounts to US$55,680.00
(fifty-five thousand six hundred and eighty United States dollars).
Arguments of the State
114.
The State did not refer to the payment of costs and expenses.
Considerations of the Court
115. As the Court has indicated on previous occasions,274 costs and expenses are
included in the concept of reparation embodied in Article 63(1) of the American
Convention, because the measures taken by the victim in order to obtain justice at
the domestic and the international level imply expenditure that must be
compensated when the State’s international responsibility has been declared in a
judgment against it. For purposes of reimbursement, the Court must prudently
assess their scope, which includes the expenses incurred before the authorities of the
domestic jurisdiction, and also those incurred during the proceedings before the
inter-American system, taking into account the circumstances of each specific case
and the nature of the international jurisdiction for the protection of human rights.
This assessment may be based on the principle of fairness and by evaluating the
expenses indicated by the Inter-American Commission and by the representatives,
providing the amount is reasonable
116. In this case, the Court considers that it is just to order, in fairness, the sum of
US$55,000.00 (fifty-five thousand United States dollars) or its equivalent in national
currency, for costs and expenses, which must be delivered to the Center for Legal
Action on Human Rights (CALDH) for litigating the case before the inter-American
system for the protection of human rights. The Court has decided to deliver this sum
directly to the organization, given the amount and that the victims in this case are
widely dispersed.
X
MEANS OF COMPLIANCE
274
Cf. Case of Tibi, supra note 3, para. 268; Case of the “Juvenile Reeducation Institute”, supra note
3, para. 328, and Case of Ricardo Canese, supra note 3, para. 212.
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