that any alleged victim has access to lawyer to represent his or her interests before the Court and ensures that financial reasons do not impede such access to legal representation.” Thus, the position of the inter-American defender enables alleged victims who lack financial resources, or legal representation, to obtain assistance in proceedings before the Inter-American Court. 6. The Inter-American Court signed an Agreement with the Inter-American Association of Public Defender Offices (hereinafter “AIDEF”) 7 whereby defenders belonging to said Association would undertake the legal representation of the alleged victims before the Court in the context of the application of Article 37 of the Court’s Rules of Procedure. Said agreement regulates the procedure to be followed for the appointment of the representative and other relevant aspects. 7. Article 4 of the aforementioned Agreement regulates the use of the Victim’s Legal Assistance Fund when an inter-American defender intervenes as follows: Legal representation before the Inter-American Court by the person appointed by the InterAmerican Association of Public Defender Offices is free of charge and he or she shall only charge for expenses arising from the defense. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights shall, to the extent possible, and through the Victims’ Legal Assistance Fund, cover reasonable and necessary expenses incurred by the designated inter-American defender. The designated inter-American defender shall present to the Court all the necessary receipts accounting for the expenses incurred in the course of processing the case before it. 8. Bearing in mind the provisions of the aforementioned Article 4, the President emphasizes that, unlike other cases before the Court in which it has been stated that alleged victims are the ones who may make use of the Assistance Fund 8, the present decision must consider the expenses required both by the alleged victims and by the interAmerican defenders. This, in acknowledgement of the fact that this case concerns alleged victims who do not have a legal representative in the proceedings before the Inter-American Court and whose representation shall be undertaken by an inter-American defender, pursuant to Article 37 of the Rules of the Inter-American Court, and therefore assistance shall be granted to cover, to the extent possible, reasonable and necessary expenses arising from legal representation in the litigation of the case. 9. The President notes that, with regard to the request for resources from the Court’s Assistance Fund, the inter-American defenders based their request “on the fact that [their] clients lack the resources to cover the costs of litigation before the Inter-American Court.” In this regard, they submitted three “socio-environmental reports” as attachments to the 7 AIDEF is “a not-for-profit civil institution, which is apolitical, non religious and is socially and culturally comprised of state institutions of Public Defender Offices and Associations of Public Defenders of America that undertake the representation, legal counsel and technical defense at the trials of persons according to laws, constitutions and international treaties. Its objectives, inter alia, are to uphold the effective application of the human rights and guarantees enshrined in international agreements and conventions, national constitutions and domestic laws, in the sphere of public defense; and to promote the necessary legal assistance and representation of persons and of justiciable rights, facilitating an effective defense and access to justice with due quality and experience.” Agreement of Understanding between the Inter-American Court of Human Rights and the InterAmerican Association of Public Defender Offices signed on September 25, 2009 and entered into force on January 1, 2010. 8 Cf. Case of Contreras et al. v. El Salvador. Petition submitted by the Alleged Victims. Decision of the President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, March 4, 2011, Considering paragraph 9. 3