Legal Aid in Europe: Nine Different Ways to Guarantee Access to Justice? 21/2/2014 Maurits Barendrecht Laura Kistemaker Henk Jan Scholten Ruby Schrader Marzena Wrzesinska “Article 6 ECHR guarantees to litigants an effective right of access to the courts for the determination of their "civil rights and obligations", it leaves to the State a free choice of the means to be used towards this end. The institution of a legal aid scheme constitutes one of those means but there are others such as, for example, a simplification of procedure.” (ECHR Airey v. Ireland, 1979) Legal Notice Advisory Board Chairman Prof. dr. mr. E. Niemeijer (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam) Members Dr. mr. J.B.J. van der Leij (WODC, Den Haag); Mr. E.J.C. van der Vlis, (Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie, directie Rechtsbestel, Den Haag); Dr. M.J. ter Voert (WODC, Den Haag); Mr. J. Hemelaar (Ad Astra Advocaten, Leiden). © 2014 WODC, Ministerie van Veiligheid en Justitie 1 Table of Contents Executive Summary ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Uitgebreide samenvatting ............................................................................................................................ 8 1. Bevindingen .......................................................................................................................................... 8 2. Beleidsmogelijkheden voor de belangrijkste probleemgebieden ...................................................... 16 3. Factoren die invloed hebben op kwaliteit en kosten ......................................................................... 19 4 Conclusies ............................................................................................................................................ 23 1. Comparing legal aid systems ................................................................................................................... 25 1.1 Needs for access to justice ................................................................................................................ 25 1.2 Role of legal services ......................................................................................................................... 25 1.3 Required services and lawyer monopolies ....................................................................................... 26 1.4 Role of legal aid ................................................................................................................................. 26 1.5 Research questions ........................................................................................................................... 27 1.6 Methodology ..................................................................................................................................... 28 2. Components of the legal aid system ....................................................................................................... 29 2.1 Legal and institutional setting ........................................................................................................... 29 2.2 Eligibility criteria................................................................................................................................ 31 2.2.1 Financial thresholds ................................................................................................................... 31 2.2.2 Merits test .................................................................................................................................. 37 2.2.3 Residency test ............................................................................................................................ 40 2.2.4 Exhaustion of other means ........................................................................................................ 41 2.3 Available legal aid services ................................................................................................................ 42 2.3.1 Information and advice .............................................................................................................. 42 2.3.2 Services helping to negotiate and interact ................................................................................ 43 2.3.3 Assistance in adjudication proceedings ..................................................................................... 45 3. Costs and financing of legal aid ............................................................................................................... 49 3.1 Overview of the expenditure ............................................................................................................ 49 3.2 Average expenditure per case .......................................................................................................... 51 3.3 Grants and refusals ........................................................................................................................... 53 3.4 Legal aid expenditure per capita ....................................................................................................... 54 3.5 Administration costs ......................................................................................................................... 55 3.6 Financing scheme .............................................................................................................................. 56 3.7 Impact of (before the event) legal expenses insurance on the legal aid budget ............................. 59 3.8 Very High Cost Cases (1% most expensive cases) ............................................................................. 60 3.9 Possible explanations for different levels of expenditure ................................................................ 61 4. Legal aid per type of problem ................................................................................................................. 64 4.1 Frequency and expenditure per type of problem ............................................................................. 64 4.2 Custody at police stations and pre-trial detention ........................................................................... 70 4.3 Criminal defence ............................................................................................................................... 71 4.4 Family law problems ......................................................................................................................... 71 4.5 Consumer problems with goods or services ..................................................................................... 73 4.6 Refugee and immigration cases ........................................................................................................ 73 4.7 Employment matters ........................................................................................................................ 74 4.8 Debt problems and restructuring ..................................................................................................... 74 4.9 Personal injury .................................................................................................................................. 74 2 4.10 Housing ........................................................................................................................................... 75 4.11 Social security ................................................................................................................................. 75 5. General trends in innovation and reforms ............................................................................................. 76 5.1 Innovations ....................................................................................................................................... 76 5.2 Reforms implemented or suggested over the last 5 years ............................................................... 81 5.3 Public perceptions of legal aid .......................................................................................................... 84 France .................................................................................................................................................. 85 Germany .............................................................................................................................................. 85 Belgium ............................................................................................................................................... 86 England & Wales ................................................................................................................................. 86 Ireland ................................................................................................................................................. 87 Poland ................................................................................................................................................. 87 The Netherlands .................................................................................................................................. 87 Finland ................................................................................................................................................. 88 6. ECHR Case Law ...................................................................................................................................