Europe backs legal aid abroad

The government has backed a new law to make it easier to get legal aid for cross-border disputes after European politicians reached agreement on the proposals - although lawyers have complained that the measures do not go far enough.

The European Commission directive means that citizens who are involved in a civil dispute will be able to receive legal aid from the country providing a forum for the action, without being discriminated against because of their own nationality.

The directive was approved last week at a meeting of European justice ministers following months of talks, and is now likely to be formally adopted at the end of November.

The directive will only apply to cross-border disputes, although some parties to the discussions were pressing for minimum standards to apply in all civil cases.

Public funding will be granted to ensure that costs specifically related to the cross-border nature of the case - for example, interpretation and translation of documents - are covered.

Applications will be subject to means and merits tests according to states' national rules.

There will be no obligation to provide legal aid where other funding mechanisms are in place.

Baroness Scotland QC, junior minister at the Lord Chancellor's Department, said the directive represented an important step in improving access to justice for ordinary citizens throughout the EU.

'Many people who travel abroad now are not rich and so are not able to afford to hire a lawyer,' she explained.

'These people should not be deprived of their right of access to justice simply because they are outside their own country.'

But Richard Miller, director of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group, said: 'We welcome the agreement, although it is disappointing that it will only affect cross-border disputes.

A Europe-wide standard on the levels of legal aid to which all EU citizens are entitled could have been a major step forward.'

Paula Rohan