6
reported that “it has fully paid the regulated fees to those experts, therefore it
[requested] for the Court to take this aspect into consideration in the procedure for
monitoring compliance.” The State indicated that in 1997 and 1998 “the experts who
intervened [in Case -1099] were the expert witnesses ex officio: Juan Bautista Viegas[,]
Osvaldo Cristóbal Marum […] and […] Néstor Ramón Zubielqui”. Additionally, the State
provided evidence of payment of “100% of the regulated fees of the technical consultant,
Néstor Ramón Zubielqui”, as well as of “the payment to the expert witnesses ex officio”
Juan Bautista Viegas and Osvaldo Cristóbal Marum, for “50% of the regulated fees,” and
“the remaining 50% […] in Debt Consolidation Bonds in National Currency, […] thus
completing the full payment of their regulated fees.” On the other hand, the State did not
mention the payment of fees and expenses to the attorneys of the State and the
Province of Santiago del Estero.
16.
That the representative expressed her “surprise” with the information presented
by the State according to which “the fees under consideration, which were delaying the
compliance with the [J]udgment and were consuming excessive time in meetings, had
already been paid and settled before [the Court’s ruling]”. In this regard, the
representative expressed her indignation, as “this [was] one of the bases for filing the
action before [the] Court […], and that the State of [A]rgentina seems to have
discovered until now [that the issue had been resolved]”.
17.
That the Commission took cognizance of the information reported by the State in
the brief of February 2, 2009 on the payment of fees to the experts, and valued the
State’s efforts to comply with the obligations, but believes that because of the victim’s
lack of information, it was not in a position to fully assess compliance with the obligations
pending fulfillment. It did not refer explicitly to compliance with this operative paragraph.
18.
Based on the foregoing explanation, in conformity with the information submitted
by the State, the Court considers that it has fully complied with the obligation to pay the
fees corresponding to all experts. On the other hand, regarding the payment of fees and
expenses corresponding to all attorneys engaged by the State and the Province of
Santiago del Estero, this Court considers that it lacks information on the status of
compliance with this obligation, therefore it considers necessary for the State to provide
a detailed and updated report on the advances for its implementation. Consequently, the
Court considers that the State has partially complied with the measures ordered in
operative paragraph three of the Judgment.
*
*
*
19.
That in relation to operative paragraph four of the Judgment, on the obligation to
lift the attachments, general property encumbrances and other measures ordered against
the assets and commercial activities of Mr. José María Cantos to guarantee payment of
the court filing fee and the regulated professional fees, on March 14, 2008 and February
2, 2009 the State reported that the precautionary measures ordered against Mr. Cantos
were not currently in effect, and that “article 207 of the National Code of Civil and
Commercial Proceedings prescribes that: ‘the encumbrances and attachments will
extinguish FIVE (5) years from the corresponding recording in the registry […]’ ” and that