monitoring compliance with this Judgment, it may establish that the State should reimburse the
victim or her representative the reasonable expenses incurred at that procedural stage.
G) Reimbursement of expenses to the Victim’s Legal Assistance Fund
424. The presumed victim, through her representative, requested the support of the Victim’s
Legal Assistance Fund of the Court in order to cover expenses of the litigation before the Court,
such as “the translation of a document from German to Spanish, the photocopies of the motions
and arguments brief, sending the annexes of this brief to Costa Rica, and also the expenses arising
from the participation in the public hearing in this case.”
425. In an Order of the acting President of April 16, 2013, authorization was given for the Fund to
cover the necessary travel and living expenses to receive the testimonial statement of J.’s sister
during the hearing, as well as for the representative or, if appropriate, the person that she might
appoint for this purpose, to appear at the public hearing. It was also established that the necessary
assistance would be provided to cover the costs of preparing and sending the affidavit of one
witness.
426. The State was able to submit its observations on the disbursements made in the instant
case, which amounted to US$3,683.52 (three thousand six hundred and eighty-three United States
dollars and fifty-two cents). Peru considered “that the details of the expenses indicated as regards
the items covered […] and the total amount […] have been certified by the Court’s Secretariat, so
that they have sufficient credibility.” Nevertheless, the State reiterated that “the petitioner failed to
justify a supposed absence of financial resources at the appropriate time,” and indicated that,
before ordering the reimbursement to the Fund of the expenditure incurred, the occurrence of
violations of the American Convention must be determined.
427. First, the Court notes that, according to article 3 of the Rules of the Court for the Operation
of the Legal Assistance Fund, the determination of the admissibility of the request to have access to
the Legal Assistance Fund is made by the President of the Court. This Court notes that, in its
answering brief, the State had already argued that the presumed victim had not justified her
absence of financial resources. In this regard, in his Order of October 24, 2012, the acting President
considered “sufficient evidence of the presumed victim’s current lack of financial resources, her
affidavit, as well as the other probative elements provided,” and established that “the request
submitted to have access to the Court’s Legal Assistance Fund was in order.” 588 Therefore, the
Court considers that the State’s repetition of the said objection is inappropriate.
428. Consequently, in application of article 5 of the Rules for the Operation of the Fund, the Court
must assess whether it is appropriate to order the defendant State to reimburse the Legal
Assistance Fund the disbursements made. Owing to the violations declared in this Judgment, the
Court orders the State to reimburse the said Fund the sum of US$3,683.52 (three thousand six
hundred and eighty-three United States dollars and fifty-two cents) for the expenses incurred. This
amount must be reimbursed to the Inter-American Court within ninety day of notification of this
Judgment.
H) Method of complying with the payments ordered
429. The State must make the payment of the compensation for pecuniary and non-pecuniary
damage and to reimburse costs and expenses established in this Judgment directly to Ms. J., in the
bank account that the victim indicates for this purpose. Ms. J. must provide the information on this
588
Case of J. v. Peru. Victim’s Legal Assistance Fund. Order of the acting President of the Court of October 24, 2012,
considering paragraphs 9 and 13.
123
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents