45 combined with elements of historical demography, nor were linguistic studies conducted to corroborate that this is a compact community belonging to a clearly defined ethnic group. Furthermore, this study was inconclusive regarding the ancestral nature of occupation of the area claimed. There are Constitutional norms pertaining to land titling and recognition of the rights of the indigenous communities, but the Office of Rural Titling is not the agency which should recognize them, as its role is merely to make them operative. As a titling institution, it has delegations in areas where there is indigenous presence, which are there precisely to detect and receive titling requests; but according to the Statute on Autonomy of the Atlantic Coast, the local authorities have the responsibility of providing assistance to the population groups and contributing to appropriate processing of their claims. VI EVALUATION OF THE EVIDENCE 84. Article 43 of the Rules of Procedure indicates the appropriate procedural moment to submit items of evidence and their admissibility, as follows: Items of evidence tendered by the parties shall be admissible only if previous notification thereof is contained in the application and in the reply thereto and, when appropriate, in the document setting out the preliminary objections and in the answer thereto. Should any of the parties allege force majeure, serious impediment or the emergence of supervening events as grounds for producing an item of evidence, the Court may, in that particular instance, admit such evidence at a time other than those indicated above, provided that the opposing parties are guaranteed the right of defense. 85. Article 44 of the Rules of Procedure empowers the Court to: 1. Obtain, on its own motion, any evidence it considers helpful. In particular, it may hear as a witness, expert witness, or in any other capacity, any person whose evidence, statement or opinion it deems to be relevant. 2. Request the parties to provide any evidence within their reach or any explanation or statement that, in its opinion, may be useful. 3. Request any entity, office, organ or authority of its choice to obtain information, express an opinion, or deliver a report or pronouncement on any given point. The documents may not be published without the authorization of the Court. […] 86. It is important to point out that the principle of presence of both parties to an action rules matters pertaining to evidence. This principle is one of the foundations for article 43 of the Rules of Procedure, as regards the time at which evidence must be submitted for there to be equality among the parties. 87. Given that the purpose of evidence is to demonstrate the veracity of the facts alleged, it is extremely important to establish the criteria applied by an international human rights court in evaluating items of evidence . 88. The Court has discretional authority to evaluate testimony or statements made, both in writing and by other means. For this, it can adequately evaluate evidence following the rule of “competent analysis”, which allows the judges to arrive