Legal aid in civil and administrative law: New guidelines

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has adopted a set of guidelines for the 47 member States to help them improve the functioning of national systems of legal aid in the fields of civil and administrative law.

The Committee of Ministers stresses the importance of establishing an accessible, effective, sustainable and reliable legal aid scheme allowing individuals to effectively exercise their right of access to justice

These guidelines, prepared by the European Committee on Legal Co-operation, invite member States to take a number of measures:

- in order to resolve disputes quickly, provide better information on existing legal rights, obligations and remedies and improve access to legal advice and assistance (e.g. through one-stop shops in public services);

- to ensure the quality of legal aid schemes and legal services provided by legal aid providers (appointment criteria, evaluation, codes of ethics, satisfaction surveys, disciplinary measures etc);

- to examine an applicant’s resources and the likelihood of successful legal proceedings and inform her/him of the alternatives to legal aid in case of refusal or non-eligibility;

- with regard to legal aid providers, emphasis is placed in particular on geographical distribution, diversity and access, especially for vulnerable people.

Finally, member States are encouraged to collect and analyse data to better understand the legal needs of the population and how they interact with legal aid services. (coe.int)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ombudsman inquiry on Commission President’s text messages is a wake-up call for EU

Image
The European Ombudsman inquiry into the Commission’s handling of a request for text messages between its President and the CEO of a pharmaceutical company is a wake-up call for all EU institutions about ensuring accountability in an era of instant messaging. One year after the initial request by a journalist, the Commission has still not clarified whether messages reported to concern major vaccine procurement deals exist and whether the public is entitled to see them. The Ombudsman had asked the Commission, in a finding of maladministration in January, to conduct a more thorough search for the text messages. The Commission’s recent response failed to say whether it had looked directly and correctly for the text messages and if not, why not. While the response recognised that work-related text messages can be EU documents, it reiterated that the Commission’s internal policy is, in effect, not to register text messages. The Ombudsman has closed  the inquiry  and upheld...
Read more

An overview of the regulatory framework on Gambling Services in the European Union

Image
written by Efi Thoma * The European Union (EU) does not have a harmonized, single regulatory framework for betting companies. Instead, the regulation of gambling services, including betting, remains largely within the competence of individual Member States.  This results in a diverse and often fragmented legal framework across the EU. While the EU facilitates some level of cooperation and sets overarching principles, the specifics of licensing, operational requirements, and consumer protection measures vary significantly from country to country. Despite the lack of a unified framework, several key principles and EU-level instruments influence the national regulations of betting companies. More specifically, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) guarantees the freedom of establishment and the freedom to provide services within the EU. These fundamental freedoms mean that Member States cannot unjustifiably restrict betting companies legally established in ano...
Read more

Access to documents: the Commission decision refusing a journalist of The New York Times access to the text messages exchanged between President von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer is annulled (CJEU)

Image
In its Judgment dated 14/5/2025 in Case T-36/23 (Stevi and The New York Times v Commission), the General Court ruled that the Commission decision refusing a journalist of The New York Times access to the text messages exchanged between President von der Leyen and the CEO of Pfizer is annulled. By an application based on the Access to Documents Regulation, [1], Matina Stevi, a journalist working for the daily newspaper The New York Times, requested the European Commission to provide access to all text messages exchanged between President Ursula von der Leyen and Albert Bourla, the chief executive officer of Pfizer, between 1 January 2021 and 11 May 2022.  The Commission rejected that application on the ground that it did not hold the documents covered by it. Ms Stevi and The New York Times requested the General Court of the European Union to annul the Commission’s decision.  In its judgment, the General Court upholds the action and annuls the Commission’s decision. The Court re...
Read more

New President of the European Court of Human Rights

Image
The European Court of Human Rights has elected on 28.4.2025 Mattias Guyomar, Judge elected in respect of France, as its new President.  Mattias Guyomar succeeds Marko Bošnjak, Judge elected in respect of Slovenia. He will take up office on 30 May 2025. Read his bio here Furthermore, the Judge elected in respect of Armenia, Vahe Grigoryan, was formally sworn in in the Court's Main Hearing Room on 28.4.2025. Read as well:  Interventions in Justice System and the role of Artificial Intelligence / article by Giorgos Kazoleas, Lawyer in Cyprus
Read more

Delays in national courts lead to violations of right to a fair trial (ECtHR)

Image
The European Court of Human Rights found that the delays of eight years and six months and seven years that applicants' cases had been pending before the Supreme Court had been excessive. In Chamber’s judgment in the case of ARB SHPK and Others v. Albania (applications nos. 39860/19, 38996/20, 6142/22 and 27370/22) the European Court of Human Rights held,unanimously, that there had been a violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial) of the European Convention on Human Rights as regards ARB SHPK’s and Mr Gazidedja’s applications, and a violation of Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) as regards Mr Gazidedja’s application. The case concerned alleged excessive length of proceedings in cases taken before the Albanian courts. The Court found in particular that the delays of eight years and six months and seven years that ARB SHPK’s cases had been pending before the Supreme Court had been excessive. Regarding Mr Gazidedja’s case, the Court noted that he had not received c...
Read more