58 g) Legal costs and expenses 73(76) The representatives of the alleged victims gave assistance to the members of the Sawhoyamaxa Community during the domestic processing of the case, whereby they incurred various expenses. Furthermore, the representatives incurred expenses during the processing of the instant case during the international proceedings.174 VIII. VIOLATION OF ARTICLES 8 AND 25 OF THE AMERICAN CONVENTION (JUDICIAL PROTECTION AND RIGHT TO FAIR TRIAL) IN RELATION TO ARTICLES 1(1) AND 2 THEREOF Argument by the Commission 74. In relation to Articles 8, 25, 1(1) and 2 of the American Convention, the Commission alleged that: a) the domestic administrative remedy proceedings whereby the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community sought to lay claim to their lands, under the rules of procedure established under the Ley sobre el Estatuto de las Comunidades Indígenas [Law on Status of Indigenous Communities], have not been effective to settle such Community’s claim in a final way. Neither have the steps taken by the members of the Community in 1997 and 2000 before the National Congress of Paraguay, through the introduction of bills proposing condemnation of the claimed lands; b) Paraguayan legislation fails to provide for an effective judicial remedy aimed at protecting legitimate land claims laid by indigenous communities in Paraguay, something which constitutes per se a violation of the American Convention; c) Even hypothetically accepting that a judicial remedy is unnecessary, it is a proven fact that despite the many proceedings commenced since 1991, the procedures established under Paraguayan legislation have not been sufficient to secure the Sawhoyamaxa Community members their ownership rights over their ancestral lands 173 Cf. statement rendered by Ms. Elsa Ayala before a public official whose acts command full faith and credit on January 17, 2006, supra note 119; statement rendered by Ms. Mariana Ayala before a public official whose acts command full faith and credit on January 17, 2006, supra note 120; statement rendered by Ms. Gladys Benítez-Galarza before a public official whose acts command full faith and credit on January 17, 2006, supra note 28; statement rendered by Mr. Balmaceda before a public official whose acts command full faith and credit on January 17, 2006, supra note 44; statement rendered by Mr. Carlos Marecos before a public official whose acts command full faith and credit on January 17, 2006, supra note 27; statement rendered by Mr. Leonardo González-Fernández before a public official whose acts command full faith and credit on January 17, 2006, supra note 145, and book titled “Atlas de las Comunidades Indígenas in el Paraguay” [Atlas of the Indigenous Communities in Paraguay],” Dirección General de Estadísticas, Encuestas y Censos [Bureau of Statistics, Surveys and Censuses] of the Secretaría Técnica de Planificación de la Presidencia de la República (Office of the Technical Secretary of State for Planning to the President of the Republic), Paraguay, 2002. Volume II, pages 400 and 401. 174 Cf. statement of expenses drawn by “TierraViva” Organization and submitted together with the written final pleadings (case file on the merits, reparations, and costs, Volume IV, folios 1112 to 1123).