NCJ Number
72481
Date Published
1979
Length
17 pages
Annotation
The Austrian combination of the legal aid system and legal advice services offered by the courts, lawyers, private organizations, and interest groups constitutes a fully acceptable and consumer-oriented formal guarantee of public access to the courts.
Abstract
The legal aid system, assuring equality in court, stems from the 19th-century 'Armenrecht', a sociopolitical instrument for the immediate benefit of the lower classes, which recognized that the chief obstacles to the poor for access to justice were the costs. Through a series of legal innovations, the law now states that a person is entitled to free legal assistance if incapable of bearing proceeding costs without serious harm to self-maintenance or to the family; persons able to pay part of the costs are also provided for under the law. In addition, the Legal Aid Act of 1973 reduced the mass of formalities by allowing the applicant to simply draw up a statement of assets. The 1973 act also paved the way for corporate eligibility for legal assistance regardless of public interests in the case. Under Austrian law, persons are also required to reimburse the legal aid fund should the proceedings bring assets not previously possessed up to 3 years after the proceedings have closed. The law maintains, however, that legal aid is to be granted to the beneficiary only if assertion or defense of the claim has some chance of success and does not appear to depend on an arbitrary decision. The lawyers appointed to a case are nominated by the Austrian Bar Association. To combat the problem of public ignorance of their rights the 'Audienzkanzlei,' an institution attached to the district courts, offers free legal advice by practicing and probationary judges and some regional lawyers serving on a rotating basis. The problems inherent in such extrajudicial advisory services include the need to progress from free advice to legal representation which may be costly and the fear that lawyers may abuse the opportunity for advertising purposes. Many other Austrian institutions offer specific legal advice, despite the criticism that these institutions' staffs are not trained and therefore cannot offer good advice. Yet experience has shown that these staff members are experienced enough to offer absolutely correct and satisfactory advice in their individual fields of law. Included are 70 footnotes.