6
be paid “directly” to his representatives, as it was ruled in the case of Fermín
Ramírez v. Guatemala. Furthermore, the State pointed out that “if the Court awards
costs in the instant case, the compensation amount should be forwarded directly [to
the organizations representing the victim], to cover the attorney’s fees paid by each
of said organizations.”
Arguments of the Inter-American Commission
19.
The Commission stated that the issue raised by the State “is in itself [...] an
enquiry on an implementation issue” and, to that respect, it asserted that “in the
absence of other instructions by Ronald Raxcacó-Reyes,” the State’s willingness to
comply with the Judgment on the Merits delivered by the Court through payment of
the amount payable as legal costs and expenses to the representatives of the victim,
“should be deemed an adequate way of performing the State’s duty to compensate
the costs incurred by the injured party in the judicial proceedings.”
Arguments of the representatives
20.
The representatives, in turn, requested the Court to consider “the adoption of
general criteria to order direct payment to the representatives of the victims of the
amounts awarded as legal costs and expenses once it has been irrefutably proven
that said costs and expenses were incurred by the representatives and after the
amount thereof has been determined.” Furthermore, the representatives pointed out
that “[s]hould such a determination be impossible or lacking, the Court [must]
carefully assess, taking into account the particular situation of the victim and his
representatives, the scope and content of the order to pay legal costs and expenses,
awarding an equitable portion to each party based on their participation in the
domestic and international proceedings.”
Considerations of the Court
21.
The Court has found that the issue raised by Guatemala in its request for
interpretation is not intended to seek an interpretation by the Court of the meaning
and scope of the Judgment on the Merits. On the contrary, the State declared that
the amount payable to Raxcacó-Reyes as legal costs and expenses, as ordered by
the Court, “should be directly paid to the Instituto de Estudios Comparados en
Ciencias Penales (Institute of Comparative Studies of Criminal Sciences)–IECCP- and
the Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (Center for Justice and
International Law)–CEJIL-, representatives of Raxcacó-Reyes;” therefore, the State
is using the request for interpretation as a means to contest the Judgment on the
Merits in order that the Court might redefine the beneficiary of the reimbursable
amounts as legal costs and expenses.
22.
In conclusion, as stated in paragraph 138 of the Judgment on the Merits, the
Court decided that the State should reimburse Raxcacó-Reyes the amount of
US$5,000 (five thousand United States Dollars), or an equivalent amount in
Guatemalan legal currency, as legal costs and expenses, and that “Raxcacó-Reyes
shall give to his representatives any amount that may be equitably prorated
depending on the assistance they might have given to him.” Accordingly, RaxcacóReyes may decide to give said amount in full to his representatives or authorize
them to directly collect the same. However, this issue has a bearing on the
implementation of the Judgment, rather than on its interpretation.
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