Cautious assent for EU directive

Lawyers have given a cautious welcome to proposals aimed at standardising civil legal aid across Europe, but they have voiced fears about vague provisions and where the money is going to come from.

The European Commission's directive - to be implemented by 1 January 2004 - aims to ensure that parties involved in cross-border civil and commercial disputes receive adequate legal aid from the states providing a forum for the action.

It is thought that it may cost the UK several hundred million pounds to implement the directive.

Governments have to decide to opt-in.Only matters revolving around administrative law will be excluded, but countries will still be able to restrict legal aid where schemes such as conditional fee agreements are in place.

That means an Italian tourist who has an accident in London could not claim legal aid.A spokesman for the Lord Chancellor's Department (LCD) said it would be 'premature' to speculate on whether the UK would opt-in, but added that the LCD has been prominent in calling for minimum standards and arguing against 'unnecessary' obstacles to cross-border litigation.Law Society President David McIntosh urged the government to sign up to the directive, but suggested it should go beyond civil cross-border disputes.

'The Law Society would welcome further debate on how the provision of legal aid is dealt with by member states,' he said.

The Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) also welcomed the directive, but said some provisions are confusing.'Much work needs to be done in examining the effects of certain clauses in the draft legal aid directive, to ensure they achieve the goals that we support,' its president, John Fish, said.Richard Miller, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, warned: 'Clearly it is important that the government assesses any likely implications of this directive for the British legal aid budget, and makes any increases to the budget that might be required.'Paula Rohan