9
38.
Also, during the public hearing (supra para. 8), the State’s Deputy Agent
declared, inter alia, that:
If Mr. Lapo, if Mr. Chaparro, through their representative, prove that a certain type of possession
protected by their right to property has been harmed, the Ecuadorean State, in good faith, is
willing to acknowledge such harm, provided it is supported by an expert report, duly prepared by
an impartial professional who is an expert on these matters.
We consider it premature for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights to rule on the type of
claims made by the representative of the alleged victims, because the views contained in his
written brief containing pleadings, motions and evidence are not duly supported by the impartial
opinion of an expert, who should be appointed to establish possible losses, which, if verified, must
be recognized by the Ecuadorean State.
[…] If the Inter-American Court attributes responsibility to the Ecuadorean State in relation to
Article 21 of the Convention, we demand that this should be based on an expert report duly
prepared by a qualified person who has no relationship of any kind to the parties to this case.
39.
In view of the above, the President, in consultation with the other judges of the
Court and in accordance with Article 45 of the Rules of Procedure, requested the State
and the representatives to each submit a list of professionals, experts in evaluating
losses, so that the President could select an expert from each list to evaluate the possible
pecuniary losses that the facts of this case had allegedly caused to Messrs. Chaparro and
Lapo. He also advised the parties that, since the preparation of the expert report
responded to a request by the State, the State was responsible for covering all the costs
involved in its preparation, pursuant to Article 46 of the Rules of Procedure.
40.
Subsequently, the State sent two communications to the Court19 in which it
indicated that the Court had misinterpreted its Agent’s statements. According to the
State, it had not proposed or requested an expert report, so that “it [would] not assume
the costs required by the preparation of this evidence.”
41.
On July 17, 2007, based on the State’s refusal to cover the costs of the evidence
it had requested, the Court decided that it was not necessary to proceed to appoint
independent experts, and that it would deliver judgment based on the evidence
submitted by the parties.
B)
ASSESSMENT OF THE EVIDENCE
42.
In this case, as in others,20 the Court admits the probative value of those
documents presented by the parties at the appropriate procedural opportunity that were
not contested or opposed, and whose authenticity was not questioned. Regarding the
documents forwarded as helpful evidence (supra paras. 9 and 11), the Court incorporates
them into the body of evidence in this case, in accordance with Article 45(2) of the Rules
of Procedure. However, it notes that the State forwarded the evidence requested (supra
paras. 8 and 9) with a delay of one month. The Court recalls that the parties must submit
the evidence that the Court requests so that it has as many probative elements as
possible when examining the facts and to justify its decisions.21
19
Official communication No. 001876 of May 30, 2007 (file on merits, volume II, folios 560 to 562) and
official communication No. 2062 of June 11, 2007, received on June 12, 2007 (file on merits, volume II, folios
762).
20
Cf. Case of Velásquez Rodríguez. Merits. Judgment of July 29, 1988. Series C No. 4, para. 140; Case of
Cantoral Huamaní and García Santa Cruz v. Peru. Preliminary objection, merits, reparations, and costs.
Judgment of July 10, 2007. Series C No. 167, para. 41, and Case of Zambrano Vélez et al., supra note 13,
para. 37.
21
Cf. Case of Zambrano Vélez et al., supra note 13, para. 33.
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