A/HRC/8/4 page 11 discrimination,19 if a person’s financial situation places them in a position of inequality before the law. International instruments and case law reflect this reality and establish a number of requirements directly related to access to justice. Thus, in addition to free legal aid for criminal proceedings, the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers require Governments to ensure the provision of sufficient funding and other resources (for example legal services) to the poor and other disadvantaged persons.20 Article 14, paragraph 3 (d), of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights guarantees that anyone charged with a criminal offence shall be entitled to have legal assistance assigned to them, in any case where the interests of justice so require, and without payment if they do not have sufficient means to pay for it. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has found that proceedings must recognize and resolve factors of real inequality in respect of anyone brought before the courts. Furthermore, the presence of real disadvantages necessitates countervailing measures that help to reduce or eliminate the obstacles and deficiencies that impair or diminish an effective defence of one’s interests.21 In addition, the Court has found that any person whose economic status means that they cannot afford either the necessary legal counsel or the costs of the proceedings “is being discriminated against by reason of ... economic status and, hence, is not receiving equal protection before the law”.22 Extreme poverty 26. Financial factors take on even more importance when they compound other social, cultural or employment factors and lead to marginalization and social exclusion. At this point the issue of access to justice is global in nature, since it extends to the effective exercise of human rights as a whole. In reality, nothing mirrors the indivisibility and interdependence of human rights better than extreme poverty, since anyone living in extreme poverty is adversely affected in every aspect of life,23 including appalling living conditions, unhealthy housing, homelessness, failure 19 H. Birgin, B. Kohen, “El acceso a la justicia como derecho”, H. Birgin, B. Kohen, (Comp.), Acceso a la justicia como garantía de igualdad, Buenos Aires: Biblos, p. 17. 20 Principios Básicos sobre la Función de los Abogados, Aprobados por el Octavo Congreso de las Naciones Unidas sobre Prevención del Delito y Tratamiento del Delincuente, La Habana, 27 de agosto a 7 de septiembre de 1990, Ppo. 3. 21 Corte Interamericana de derechos Humanos, Opinión Consultiva OC-16/99 de 1 de octubre de 1999, Derecho a la información sobre la asistencia consular en el marco de las garantías del debido proceso legal, párr. 119. 22 Corte Interamericana de derecho Humanos, Opinión Consultiva OC-11/90, del 10 de agosto de 1998, Excepciones al agotamiento de los recursos internos, párr. 22. 23 Despouy, Leandro, Relator Especial sobre la extrema pobreza, Subcomisión de Prevención de Discriminaciones y Protección a las Minorías. Informe final sobre los derechos humanos y la extrema pobreza, E/CN.4/Sub. 2/1996/13, 28 de junio de 1996: parágrafos 3,4, 5, 7 y 8.-Aprobado por la Comisión de Derechos Humanos, URL:http://www.unhchr.ch/Huridocda/Huridoca.nsf/0/3b8458e534d255b58025669e0050ce6e?O pendocument