Permanent Council to draft the rules of procedure for the Fund. 3 This Assistance Fund was created “to facilitate access to the inter-American human rights system by persons who currently lack the resources needed to bring their cases before the system.” 4 According to the said Rules of Procedure adopted by the Permanent Council, the Inter-American System’s Assistance Fund has two separate accounts: one corresponding to the Inter-American Commission and the other to the Inter-American Court. As regards the financing of the Inter-American System’s Assistance Fund, currently this depends on “voluntary capital contributions from the Members States of the OAS, the Permanent Observer States, and other States and donors that may wish to collaborate with the Fund.” 5 In addition, according to article 4 of the Rules of Procedure approved by the Permanent Council, it corresponded to the Court to establish the formal requirements for eligibility to request assistance, and also the approval procedure. 3. Consequently, on February 4, 2010, the Court adopted the Rules of Procedure of the Court’s Assistance Fund, which came into force on June 1, 2010, in order to “regulate the operation of, and access to, the Victims' Legal Assistance Fund […] for the litigation of cases before it.” 6 As established in these Rules of Procedure, in order to use this Fund, a presumed victim must fulfill three requirements: (1) request this in the brief with pleadings, motions and evidence; (2) prove, by means of a sworn affidavit and other appropriate evidence that satisfies the Court, that they lack sufficient financial resources to cover the costs of litigation before the Inter-American Court, and (3) indicate precisely the aspects of their participation in the proceedings that require the use of the resources of the Court’s Assistance Fund. 4. As stipulated in article 3 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court’s Assistance Fund, on receiving a request to use these resources, the Secretariat of the Court must conduct a preliminary review of the request for assistance and require the requesting party to present any additional background information required for the request to be submitted to the consideration of the President of the Court, who will assess the petition and take the pertinent decision within three months of receiving all the required information. 5. The representatives based their request on the lack of the necessary financial resources to cover the costs of the litigation before the Court. In this regard, they attached a statement of the capital asses of Luis Uzcátegui prepared by a certified public accountant, which attests that Mr. Uzcátegui “has no capital assets at this time.” 6. Furthermore, the representatives advised that they would be in a “position to assume a series of expenses […] at this stage of the proceedings before the Court, and therefore, the [presumed] victims have not included them in their request for assistance from the Fund, in the understanding that the Court would take these expenses into account when determining the costs and expenses to be reimbursed by the State, if appropriate. 7. The representatives specified that the presumed victims requested help from the Assistance Fund to cover: (i) travel expenses (including “air fares, hotel and per diem”) for the persons that the Court summons to testify in the hearing, including presumed victims, 3 CP/RES. 963 (1728/09), Resolution adopted on November 11, 2009, by the OAS Permanent Council, “Rules of Procedure for the Operation of the Legal Assistance Fund of the Inter-American Human Rights System.” 4 AG/RES. 2426 (XXXVIII-O/08), supra note 2, operative paragraph 2(a), and Resolution CP/RES. 963 (1728/09), supra note 2, article 1(1). 5 Rules of procedure of the Inter-American System’s Assistance Fund, supra note 3, article 2(1). 6 Rules of procedure of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on the Operation of the Victims’ Legal Assistance Fund approved by the Court on February 4, 2010, Article 1. 2