Refugees may obtain legal advice from an attorney through the legal aid service. Legal aid is only granted for exercising one’s rights outside of court proceedings in matters relating to civil, labour, administrative, social and criminal law. Applications for legal aid must be submitted to the local district court.
Persons wishing to obtain legal advice or to be represented by an attorney are required to pay EUR 15,00; additional costs are covered by the legal aid service. Legal advisers may waive the fee of EUR 15,00 if the person requiring advice is unable to pay. Legal advisers are generally not permitted to ask for payment of more than the sum specified.
If disputes need to be decided before a court, it is necessary to file a lawsuit to institute proceedings. The costs of legal proceedings (court costs and costs of one’s own legal counsel) can (in certain cases on a proportional basis) be borne by the legal aid service available for this purpose. Legal aid for court costs and one’s own legal counsel can be granted to persons with low income in the context of proceedings conducted before civil, administrative, labour, fiscal and social welfare courts.
Legal aid of this sort has no effect on the costs which may perhaps need to be paid to the opposing party, especially costs which may need to be paid to the opposing party’s attorney. Persons who lose a court case must therefore generally also pay the costs of the opposing party’s legal counsel, even if legal aid has been granted for court costs and for their own counsel. Applications for legal aid for court costs and for one’s own counsel must be submitted to the trial court. Thie is the court which is responsible locally and by area of competence for the legal dispute.
In addition, there are also other ways in which to obtain legal advice free of charge or in return for a fee dependent on one’s income. Thus, for example, many towns and municipalities in Schleswig-Holstein offer legal advice in public law clinics. More information may be obtained from the appropriate administrative services.
Further information is also available from the local district court or in the brochures listed below:
