Council Directive 2002/8/EC of 27 January 2003 to improve access to justice in cross-border disputes by establishing minimum common rules relating to legal aid for such disputes
Data as of 2026-07-04 · Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗
Aims and scope 1. The purpose of this Directive is to improve access to justice in cross-border disputes by establishing minimum common rules relating to legal aid in such disputes. 2. It shall apply, in cross-border disputes, to civil and commercial matters whatever the nature of the court or tribunal. It shall not extend, in particular, to revenue, customs or administrative matters. 3. In this Directive, "Member State" shall mean Member States with the exception of Denmark.
Cross-border disputes 1. For the purposes of this Directive, a cross-border dispute is one where the party applying for legal aid in the context of this Directive is domiciled or habitually resident in a Member State other than the Member State where the court is sitting or where the decision is to be enforced. 2. The Member State in which a party is domiciled shall be determined in accordance with Article 59 of Council Regulation (EC) No 44/2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters(9). 3. The relevant moment to determine if there is a cross-border dispute is the time when the application is submitted, in accordance with this Directive. CHAPTER II RIGHT TO LEGAL AID
Right to legal aid 1. Natural persons involved in a dispute covered by this Directive shall be entitled to receive appropriate legal aid in order to ensure their effective access to justice in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Directive. 2. Legal aid is considered to be appropriate when it guarantees: (a) pre-litigation advice with a view to reaching a settlement prior to bringing legal proceedings; (b) legal assistance and representation in court, and exemption from, or assistance with, the cost of proceedings of the recipient, including the costs referred to in Article 7 and the fees to persons mandated by the court to perform acts during the proceedings. In Member States in which a losing party is liable for the costs of the opposing party, if the recipient loses the case, the legal aid shall cover the costs incurred by the opposing party, if it would have covered such costs had the recipient been domiciled or habitually resident in the Member State in which the court is sitting. 3. Member States need not provide legal assistance or representation in the courts or tribunals in proceedings especially designed to enable litigants to make their case in person, except when the courts or any other competent authority otherwise decide in order to ensure equality of parties or in view of the complexity of the case. 4. Member States may request that legal aid recipients pay reasonable contributions towards the costs of proceedings taking into account the conditions referred to in Article 5. 5. Member States may provide that the competent authority may decide that recipients of legal aid must refund it in whole or in part if their financial situation has substantially improved or if the decision to grant legal aid had been taken on the basis of inaccurate information given by the recipient.
Non-discrimination Member States shall grant legal aid without discrimination to Union citizens and third-country nationals residing lawfully in a Member State. CHAPTER III CONDITIONS AND EXTENT OF LEGAL AID
Conditions relating to financial resources 1. Member States shall grant legal aid to persons referred to in Article 3(1) who are partly or totally unable to meet the costs of proceedings referred to in Article 3(2) as a result of their economic situation, in order to ensure their effective access to justice. 2. The economic situation of a person shall be assessed by the competent authority of the Member State in which the court is sitting, in the light of various objective factors such as income, capital or family situation, including an assessment of the resources of persons who are financially dependant on the applicant. 3. Member States may define thresholds above which legal aid applicants are deemed partly or totally able to bear the costs of proceedings set out in Article 3(2). These thresholds shall be defined on the basis of the criteria defined in paragraph 2 of this Article. 4. Thresholds defined according to paragraph 3 of this Article may not prevent legal aid applicants who are above the thresholds from being granted legal aid if they prove that they are unable to pay the cost of the proceedings referred to in Article 3(2) as a result of differences in the cost of living between the Member States of domicile or habitual residence and of the forum. 5. Legal aid does not need to be granted to applicants in so far as they enjoy, in the instant case, effective access to other mechanisms that cover the cost of proceedings referred to in Article 3(2).
Conditions relating to the substance of disputes 1. Member States may provide that legal aid applications for actions which appear to be manifestly unfounded may be rejected by the competent authorities. 2. If pre-litigation advice is offered, the benefit of further legal aid may be refused or cancelled on grounds related to the merits of the case in so far as access to justice is guaranteed. 3. When taking a decision on the merits of an application and without prejudice to Article 5, Member States shall consider the importance of the individual case to the applicant but may also take into account the nature of the case when the applicant is claiming damage to his or her reputation but has suffered no material or financial loss or when the application concerns a claim arising directly out of the applicant's trade or self-employed profession.
Costs related to the cross-border nature of the dispute Legal aid granted in the Member State in which the court is sitting shall cover the following costs directly related to the cross-border nature of the dispute: (a) interpretation; (b) translation of the documents required by the court or by the competent authority and presented by the recipient which are necessary for the resolution of the case; and (c) travel costs to be borne by the applicant where the physical presence of the persons concerned with the presentation of the applicant's case is required in court by the law or by the court of that Member State and the court decides that the persons concerned cannot be heard to the satisfaction of the court by any other means.
Costs covered by the Member State of the domicile or habitual residence The Member State in which the legal aid applicant is domiciled or habitually resident shall provide legal aid, as referred to in Article 3(2), necessary to cover: (a) costs relating to the assistance of a local lawyer or any other person entitled by the law to give legal advice, incurred in that Member State until the application for legal aid has been received, in accordance with this Directive, in the Member State where the court is sitting; (b) the translation of the application and of the necessary supporting documents when the application is submitted to the authorities in that Member State.
Continuity of legal aid 1. Legal aid shall continue to be granted totally or partially to recipients to cover expenses incurred in having a judgment enforced in the Member State where the court is sitting. 2. A recipient who in the Member State where the court is sitting has received legal aid shall receive legal aid provided for by the law of the Member State where recognition or enforcement is sought. 3. Legal aid shall continue to be available if an appeal is brought either against or by the recipient, subject to Articles 5 and 6. 4. Member States may make provision for the re-examination of the application at any stage in the proceedings on the grounds set out in Articles 3(3) and (5), 5 and 6, including proceedings referred to in paragraphs 1 to 3 of this Article.
Extrajudicial procedures Legal aid shall also be extended to extrajudicial procedures, under the conditions defined in this Directive, if the law requires the parties to use them, or if the parties to the dispute are ordered by the court to have recourse to them.
Authentic instruments Legal aid shall be granted for the enforcement of authentic instruments in another Member State under the conditions defined in this Directive. CHAPTER IV PROCEDURE
Authority granting legal aid Legal aid shall be granted or refused by the competent authority of the Member State in which the court is sitting, without prejudice to Article 8.
Introduction and transmission of legal aid applications 1. Legal aid applications may be submitted to either: (a) the competent authority of the Member State in which the applicant is domiciled or habitually resident (transmitting authority); or (b) the competent authority of the Member State in which the court is sitting or where the decision is to be enforced (receiving authority). 2. Legal aid applications shall be completed in, and supporting documents translated into: (a) the official language or one of the languages of the Member State of the competent receiving authority which corresponds to one of the languages of the Community institutions; or (b) another language which that Member State has indicated it can accept in accordance with Article 14(3). 3. The competent transmitting authorities may decide to refuse to transmit an application if it is manifestly: (a) unfounded; or (b) outside the scope of this Directive. The conditions referred to in Article 15(2) and (3) apply to such decisions. 4. The competent transmitting authority shall assist the applicant in ensuring that the application is accompanied by all the supporting documents known by it to be required to enable the application to be determined. It shall also assist the applicant in providing any necessary translation of the supporting documents, in accordance with Article 8(b). The competent transmitting authority shall transmit the application to the competent receiving authority in the other Member State within 15 days of the receipt of the application duly completed in one of the languages referred to in paragraph 2, and the supporting documents, translated, where necessary, into one of those languages. 5. Documents transmitted under this Directive shall be exempt from legalisation or any equivalent formality. 6. The Member States may not charge for services rendered in accordance with paragraph 4. Member States in which the legal aid applicant is domiciled or habitually resident may lay down that the applicant must repay the costs of translation borne by the competent transmitting authority if the application for legal aid is rejected by the competent authority.
Competent authorities and language 1. Member States shall designate the authority or authorities competent to send (transmitting authorities) and receive (receiving authorities) the application. 2. Each Member State shall provide the Commission with the following information: - the names and addresses of the competent receiving or transmitting authorities referred to in paragraph 1, - the geographical areas in which they have jurisdiction, - the means by which they are available to receive applications, and - the languages that may be used for the completion of the application. 3. Member States shall notify the Commission of the official language or languages of the Community institutions other than their own which is or are acceptable to the competent receiving authority for completion of the legal aid applications to be received, in accordance with this Directive. 4. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the information referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 before 30 November 2004. Any subsequent modification of such information shall be notified to the Commission no later than two months before the modification enters into force in that Member State. 5. The information referred to in paragraphs 2 and 3 shall be published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Processing of applications 1. The national authorities empowered to rule on legal aid applications shall ensure that the applicant is fully informed of the processing of the application. 2. Where applications are totally or partially rejected, the reasons for rejection shall be given. 3. Member States shall make provision for review of or appeals against decisions rejecting legal aid applications. Member States may exempt cases where the request for legal aid is rejected by a court or tribunal against whose decision on the subject of the case there is no judicial remedy under national law or by a court of appeal. 4. When the appeals against a decision refusing or cancelling legal aid by virtue of Article 6 are of an administrative nature, they shall always be ultimately subject to judicial review.
Standard form 1. To facilitate transmission, a standard form for legal aid applications and for the transmission of such applications shall be established in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 17(2). 2. The standard form for the transmission of legal aid applications shall be established at the latest by 30 May 2003. The standard form for legal aid applications shall be established at the latest by 30 November 2004. CHAPTER V FINAL PROVISIONS
Committee 1. The Commission shall be assisted by a Committee. 2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, Articles 3 and 7 of Decision 1999/468/EC shall apply. 3. The Committee shall adopt its Rules of Procedure.
Information The competent national authorities shall cooperate to provide the general public and professional circles with information on the various systems of legal aid, in particular via the European Judicial Network, established in accordance with Decision 2001/470/EC.
More favourable provisions This Directive shall not prevent the Member States from making provision for more favourable arrangements for legal aid applicants and recipients.
Relation with other instruments This Directive shall, as between the Member States, and in relation to matters to which it applies, take precedence over provisions contained in bilateral and multilateral agreements concluded by Member States including: (a) the European Agreement on the transmission of applications for legal aid, signed in Strasbourg on 27 January 1977, as amended by the additional Protocol to the European Agreement on the transmission of applications for legal aid, signed in Moscow in 2001; (b) the Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on International Access to Justice.
Transposition into national law 1. Member States shall bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with this Directive no later than 30 November 2004 with the exception of Article 3(2)(a) where the transposition of this Directive into national law shall take place no later than 30 May 2006. They shall forthwith inform the Commission thereof. When Member States adopt these measures, they shall contain a reference to this Directive or shall be accompanied by such a reference on the occasion of their official publication. The methods of making such a reference shall be laid down by Member States. 2. Member States shall communicate to the Commission the text of the main provisions of national law which they adopt in the field covered by this Directive.
Entry into force This Directive shall enter into force on the date of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
Addressees This Directive is addressed to the Member States in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community. Done at Brussels, 27 January 2003. For the Council The President G. Papandreou (1) OJ C 103 E, 30.4.2002, p. 368. (2) Opinion delivered on 25 September 2002 (not yet published in the Official Journal). (3) OJ C 221, 17.9.2002, p. 64. (4) OJ L 174, 27.6.2001, p. 1. (5) OJ L 281, 23.11.1995, p. 31. (6) OJ L 24, 30.1.1998, p. 1. (7) OJ L 174, 27.6.2001, p. 25. (8) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23. (9) OJ L 12, 16.1.2001, p. 1; Regulation as amended by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1496/2002 (OJ L 225, 22.8.2002, p. 13).
Transposition links come from the Member States’ notifications published on EUR-Lex. Only high-confidence matches held on LawPlayer are listed; see EUR-Lex for the complete list.
Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.