Consumer advice centres are the consumer centres in Germany. 16 Länder have consumer associations and offer advice and information on consumer protection issues, help solve legal problems and represent the interests of consumers at state level. Legal aid may be granted in civil (including family law), administrative, labour, social and even constitutional disputes before the courts if a party is unable to pay the costs of legal and counselling. [4] Legal aid is granted by exemption from court costs and payment of consultancy fees from the State budget by court decision. The amount paid to the lawyer in legal aid cases is governed by a fee schedule provided for by law, but considerably lower than what the legal adviser could normally charge a client who is not entitled to legal aid under the ordinary fee schedule. The court can review your financial situation up to four years later and send you the appropriate forms. You must complete this form and return it to the court with records of your income, assets and expenses. If your financial situation improves significantly during these four years, the court may ask you to return what you received as legal aid. In this case, you must repay the legal aid in installments.
Have you ever applied for legal aid in Germany? Or have you had experience with a legal dispute here? How did you handle the situation? Share it in the comments below. If, for example, the district court rejects your application and you have already received legal advice, the lawyer may charge his or her usual consulting fees. In this case too, your lawyer must inform you before accepting you as a client. Please note that you are free to choose your lawyer. The person you choose to defend your rights is not determined by the court. If you do not have legal expenses insurance or the means to call on legal expertise, you can apply for legal aid in Germany here. In Germany, legal aid is granted for all legal matters. This includes the following areas: A company called Blue Pie production USA inc uploaded my music to SoundCloud in 2019 without my consent.
When I found out and confronted them, they begged me and said they were ready to sign me, they signed me up in February 2020, but exactly what they were supposed to do, which made me stop legally asking for compensation against them, they didn`t – it`s marketing and advertising for my music. I want to claim compensation now and the court should hold in Germany and never in any other country – this is the procedure with SoundCloud.com.Can I get legal assistance here? If you have little or no income and would first like to seek advice from a lawyer, you can apply for and obtain a “certificate of advisory assistance” from the district court competent for the case in question. To find the competent district court, consult gerichtsverzeichnis.de. The requirements for the certificate of advisory assistance are similar to those of the above-mentioned legal aid. Advisory assistance essentially means “legal aid” in German. With the assistance of counsel, you receive competent legal advice in Germany at very low costs. Schlun & Elseven is a full-service international law firm with offices throughout Germany. The firm advises expatriates and companies on all legal matters such as immigration, corporate, labour, family and tax law. Offices: Aachen, Cologne and Düsseldorf. In 2016 and 2017, we also sponsored an internship for the “European Lawyers in” (ELiL) project of the CCBE/Association of German Lawyers. Pro Bono Deutschland e.V. was founded in February 2011.
Our members are law firms and lawyers who work as lawyers in Germany. Our legal goal is to support corporate citizenship in the field of pro bono (free) legal advice for the common good, especially for charitable purposes. In Germany, legal aid is free for eligible beneficiaries. A legal aid programme to combat Nigeria`s excessive use of pre-trial detention must be extended to the whole country. The German legal system means that legal aid cases are examined to determine whether they are necessary and well-founded, first by established lawyers and then by the courts, while avoiding dependence on external legal aid institutions that have been withdrawn from the judicial proceedings. Another element of strength lies in the low cost of the system. [6] Overall, smaller amounts of national budgets per capita are allocated to legal aid compared to other European countries. [7] In order to obtain receipt of their fees through legal aid, pleadings prepared by lawyers must have an arguable basis to ensure the high quality of representation of those in need. A lower performance of lawyers is therefore not an option. It is also assumed that the German model places poor litigants on a real equal footing with a wealthy litigant. [8] A person in need has the same right to choose his or her lawyer as a wealthier person. The lawyer representing the person in need is, of course, motivated to win the case because, as a successful party, he has the right to recover the full lawyer`s fees, that is, not just the reduced costs of legal aid, from the party who loses the case.
[9] The lose-pay system encourages lawyers to represent indigent clients. [9] You can use the form below to describe your situation (and get a free quote). Use a free translation tool like Deepl to translate any text into German. It`s not always 100% accurate, but it works pretty well for a free tool. Depending on your disposable income, legal aid covers all or part of your share of legal costs and the costs of your own lawyer. However, legal aid in Germany does not cover any costs you may have to pay to your opponent, especially the opposing lawyer`s fees. Legal aid is available for legal proceedings before the following courts: Did you know that in 1919 Germany was one of the first countries to introduce a system of free legal aid for its financially disadvantaged citizens? Legal aid in Germany still exists and is available to all residents, including foreign nationals. Find a lawyer who has expertise in the required area of law (criminal law, lease law, contract law, etc.) and make an appointment with them for legal advice. You can also find a lawyer who is English-speaking or speaks your native language. In general, a lawyer cannot charge more than €15 to a person applying for legal aid in Germany.
In some cases, the lawyer refuses to pay €15 if the person asking for help cannot afford to pay it. These cities have different procedures for providing free legal advice to low-income people. You are eligible for legal aid if you meet the following conditions: Note: If you are accused of a crime, you are not eligible for legal aid. But if you don`t have enough money, the state will pay for your lawyer. However, you can not choose a lawyer yourself – the court will choose a lawyer for you. The granting of legal aid by the court requires the applicant to prove that the applicant (a) is not economically able to bear the costs of the proceedings, (b) that his action has a reasonable chance of success and (c) that the plea is not frivolous. [5] The application for legal aid is normally submitted to the competent judicial chamber at the same time as the draft complaint.