Legal aid allows individuals with low incomes to have the State cover their legal fees and court costs, such as bailiff and expertise fees, in the context of legal proceedings.
If the person does not know a lawyer, the Legal Aid Office will appoint one on their behalf.
Depending on the applicant’s level of resources, the State will either cover all the court expenses (full aid) or a portion (partial aid).
This aid is valid before all judicial courts (district court, high court, labor court, commercial court, court of appeal, Court of Cassation) as well as before all administrative courts (administrative court, administrative court of appeal, Council of State). The number of legal aid admissions has grown significantly, from 512,892 in 1993 to 904,532 in 2006.
Resource conditions:
To benefit from legal aid, the applicant’s monthly resources must be below a certain threshold.
Since January 1, 2010, this threshold is:
– €915 for full legal aid,
– €1,372 for partial legal aid.
This amount is increased according to the number of dependents (spouse, partner, descendants, or ascendants) by:
– €165 for the first two dependents,
– €104 for each additional person.
Considered resources include income from work, rent, annuities, pensions, and alimony of the applicant as well as those of their spouse and persons living habitually in their household. However, family benefits and certain social benefits are not included in the income calculation.
How to apply for legal aid:
Simply collect an application form for legal aid from the high court. Once the form is completed and signed, the application must be sent to the Legal Aid Office at the high court of the applicant’s residence or of the jurisdiction seized, if applicable.
However, requests concerning procedures before the Court of Cassation, the Council of State, or the Refugee Appeals Commission must be sent to the legal aid office of these jurisdictions.
Conditions for withdrawing legal aid:
Legal aid can be withdrawn:
– If during the proceedings or the performance of these acts, the beneficiary acquires resources such that, had they existed at the time of the legal aid request, the aid would not have been granted,
– When a finalized decision provides the beneficiary with resources such that, had they existed at the time of the legal aid request, the aid would not have been granted,
– When the proceedings initiated by the applicant benefiting from legal aid are deemed dilatory or abusive.
Ms. Muriel Marland-Militello, UMP deputy for Alpes-Maritimes, recently submitted a bill aimed at sanctioning abuses regarding legal aid and making aid withdrawals more systematic. This proposal seeks to simplify and automate the withdrawal of legal aid in cases already provided by the law. Withdrawal will, for example, be mandatory in cases of dilatory or abusive procedures and will then be directly pronounced by the judge without having to go through the already overloaded legal aid offices. In practice, however, many legal aid offices do not proceed with the withdrawal of legal aid in cases of abuse because they are not informed of the decisions. Moreover, according to estimates, only 24 withdrawal decisions were pronounced in 2004, 2005, and 2006. This measure will allow the withdrawal of legal aid from people who should not have received it.
