Brussels, 28/01/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission has proposed to Member States granting free legal aid to people who do not have sufficient resources to correctly participate, as plaintiffs or defenders, in a civil procedure held in another Member State to the one in which the live. All cases of civil law, including those under trade law, labour law and consumer legislation are concerned by this draft directive, as are extra-judicial procedures provided for by law or by a judge for these same matters. The Commission proposes legal aid, "notably comprising the assistance of an attorney and/or another person allowed by law to assure representation in justice, to provide pre-litigation assistance and represent the person before the courts, as well as exoneration or the taking on board of legal costs". Legal aid, granted by a country where the case is to be judged, should also "take account of additional costs directly linked to the cross-border nature of the litigation": costs of translation, interpretation and displacement. Furthermore, the draft directive provides for the State where the applicant for legal aid resides taking on board the costs incurred in this Member State, for example for the consultation of a local attorney before taking the decision to lodge a complaint in another State.
This aid would be granted to any person or non-profit organisation "who cannot afford the costs of the litigation due to "their/its personal financial situation", knowing that each State may set a ceiling for resources over which it considers that the person has no right to receive such legal aid. In that case, to justify their right to aid, the person may always point to the difference of living standards between their country of residence and those where the case is being judged. Legal aid would be granted to EU citizens and citizens of third countries legally residing in one of the Member States. The draft provides for Member States being able to ask the beneficiary of legal aid to pay back all or in part, at the end of the trial, if their financial situation "has meanwhile substantially improved".
The Commission proposes drawing up a standard formula for requesting legal aid for these cross-border civil cases. Each Member State should appoint competent authorities to examine and accept or reject requests. Examination will have to be swift, and any rejection reasoned.
The Commission proposes that Member States implement this system at latest 1 January 2004. It stipulates, of course, that nothing prevents a Member State granting more favourable legal aid than the common threshold being proposed. In virtue of their particular agreements in matters of Justice and Home Affairs, this proposal does not concern Denmark or the United Kingdom and Ireland, but these last two countries may decide to opt-in.
On the invitation of the European Council of Tampere, the Commission began work on the adoption of minimum rules for legal aid by presenting a Green Paper in March 2000, followed by two meetings of experts, in February then June 2001.