What is “rationality, proportionality and equality” in determining the price of land? Salvador Chiriboga v Ecuador, 21/03/2011

The Ecuadorian city of Quito expropriated the forest representing 55 % of the urban green area from Mrs Maria Salvador Chiriboga (§ 79), which led to the dispute on the price to be paid to the owner before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Mrs Salvador Chiriboga estimated the value at US $ 84 326 787.50, and the Ecuadorian Government insisted on $ 6 043 635.25. Expert Vincente Dominguez Zambrano concluded on US $ 55 567 055. Expert Manuel Silva Vasconez insisted on $ 41 883 379.12, but also calculated that in 1996 (beginning of expropriation) it was $ 18 201 930.62. $ 41 214 233.12 according to expert Juzgado Noveno. Expert Gutierrez Castillo concluded that the real price had to be $ 58 111 875, and it was $ 42 180 504.47 according to expert Jakeline Jaramillo Barca (§ 63).

The Inter-American Court declared that it must take into account the value that existed before the beginning of expropriation (§ 80), and targeted the numbers of expert Manuel Silva Vasconez who was the only who provided the data for 1996. After this, the judges awarded $ 18 705 000 under the criteria of “rationality, proportionality and equality” (§ 84).

On a number of occasions the Inter-American Court of Human Rights quoted the case law of the ECtHR as if it had any coherent sense (§§ 57-58, 60 etc.).