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Council Directive 2002/8/EC of 27 January 2003 to improve… CHAPTER IV — PROCEDURE

Article 12–Article 16 · 5 articles

Compiled from an official source version. Later amendments or repeals may not be reflected; the official text prevails. · Read the official text ↗

Article 12

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.

Article 13

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.

Article 14

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.

Article 15

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.

Article 16

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

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Source: EUR-Lex (Publications Office of the EU), © European Union, reuse permitted under Commission Decision 2011/833/EU.

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