(Legal aid)

Application: in which N seeks legal aid under Article 94 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, applicable mutatis mutandis to the Civil Service Tribunal pursuant to Article 3(4) of Council Decision 2004/752/EC, Euratom of 2 November 2004 establishing the European Union Civil Service Tribunal (OJ 2004 L 333, p. 7), until the entry into force of its rules of procedure.

Held: N is granted legal aid. A sum corresponding to the costs incurred by N from the date when the application for legal aid was submitted is to be paid to the lawyer assisting the applicant, on the basis of supporting documents and up to a maximum of EUR 2000. Ms I. Kletzlen is appointed as the lawyer representing N.

Summary

Procedure – Application for legal aid – Costs covered

(Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance, Arts 94 and 95; Council Decision 2004/752, Art. 3(4))

It is apparent from Articles 94 and 95 of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of First Instance that legal aid must, in principle, be reserved for the payment of official costs incurred either when an application for aid is submitted or thereafter. Unless there are special circumstances, it would neither be consistent with the letter and spirit of those articles nor would it be in the interest of the sound administration of justice for costs incurred before that date to be paid retroactively through legal aid. Where costs have been incurred before the application for aid was submitted, the presumption is, until proved to the contrary, that the applicant was able to pay them and that one of the conditions for granting legal aid is therefore not met.

(see para. 16)

See:

order of 3 April 2006 in Case T-49/04 AJ Hassan v Council and Commission, not published in the ECR; order of 27 October 2006 in Case T-318/01 AJ Othman v Council and Commission, not published in the ECR