Special regulation. In order to benefit from public legal aid, individuals must follow the procedure regulated by Government Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008 on pulic legal aid in civil matters, as amended and supplemented, and legal persons are subject to the provisions of Articles 42 and 44 of Government Emergency Ordinance No 80/2013 on stamp court fees, as amended and supplemented.
Forms of public legal aid. According to Article 6 in Government Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008, public legal aid may be granted in the following forms:
- payment of fees for representation, legal assistance and, where appropriate, defence, by an appointed or chosen lawyer, for the realisation or protection of a right or legitimate interest in court or for the prevention of litigation;
- payment of the expert/translator or interpreter used in the course of proceedings, with the consent of the court or authority having jurisdiction, if such payment is the legal responsibility of the applicant for public legal aid;
- payment of the bailiff's fees;
- exemptions, reductions, rescheduling or postponements of the payment of legal fees provided for by law, including those due at the enforcement stage.
Conditions for the granting of public legal aid. Public legal aid is granted to a natural person who is unable to meet the costs of a trial without compromising the support of himself or his family.
According to Art. 5 para. (1) in Government Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008, family means the spouse, children or other lineal descendants up to the age of 18 who are dependent on the applicant, as well as children or other lineal descendants over the age of 18, but not over the age of 26, if they are in further education and dependent on the applicant.
A person who has a common domicile or residence and is a joint head of household with the applicant, his/her children or other direct descendants up to the age of 18 who are dependent on the applicant, and children or other direct descendants over the age of 18 but not over the age of 26 who are in further education and dependent on the applicant, shall also be considered a member of the family.
Public legal aid may be granted, separately or cumulatively, in any of the forms provided for in Article 6 in the Government Emergency Ordinance (payment of the fees of lawyers, experts, translators, interpreters and bailiffs, and facilities for the payment of court fees). The amount of public legal aid granted, separately or cumulatively, in any of the forms referred to in Article 6, may not exceed, over a period of one year, the maximum amount equivalent to 10 gross minimum wages per country at the level of the year in which the application was made (according to the provisions of Article 7 of Government Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008).
For public legal aid in the form of exemptions, reductions, rescheduling or postponements of the payment of stamp court fees, the maximum amount of 10 salaries is not applicable, as the law does not impose any limit. Under Article 8 in Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008, persons whose average net monthly income per family member in the two months preceding the application is less than 300 RON are entitled to legal aid. In this case, the amounts constituting public legal aid are paid in full by the State. The party will therefore be fully exempted from the payment of stamp court fees.
If the average net monthly income per family member in the two months preceding the application is less than 600 lei, 50% of the sums constituting legal aid will be paid by the State. In this case, therefore, the party will benefit from a 50% reduction in the amount of stamp court fees. Public legal aid may also be granted in other situations, in proportion to the applicant's needs, if the certain or estimated costs of the proceedings are such as to limit his effective access to justice, including because of differences in the cost of living between the Member State in which he is domiciled or habitually resident and Romania.
According to Article 9 in Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008, any periodic income, such as salaries, allowances, fees, annuities, rents, profits from commercial or self-employed activities and others, as well as sums due on a regular basis, such as rents and maintenance obligations, shall be taken into account when determining income.
Expiry of legal aid. According to Article 10 in Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008, entitlement to public legal aid is extinguished by the death of the party or by the improvement of his material situation to a level enabling him to meet the costs of the proceedings. If the applicant's material situation improves in the course of the proceedings, any interested party may refer the matter to the court, primarily the opposing party who, at the end of the litigation, if he or she is unsuccessful, will find himself/ herself in a position to bear the costs of the public legal aid granted to the successful party, with the Ministry of Justice advancing the costs borne by the State for the applicant, and the court of its own motion, on the basis of its active role.
Rules for submission of an application for legal aid. As regards the time limit for submitting an application for legal aid, it may be submitted at any time during the trial of a case, at a certain stage of the proceedings, and the decision to admit the application will take effect only at that stage of the proceedings. According to Article 14 in Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008, the application for legal aid shall be made in writing and shall contain information on:
- the subject matter and nature of the proceedings for which legal aid is requested;
- identity;
- the personal identification number;
- domicile;
- the material situation of the applicant and his/her family, attaching documentary evidence of his/her and his/her family's income and proof of maintenance or payment obligations.
The application shall also be accompanied by an affidavit of the applicant (not necessarily in a notarised form) stating whether he/she has received any other legal aid in the last 12 months, in what form, for what reason and the amount of such aid.
In support of the application for legal aid, documents may also be attached to the file to show that monthly maintenance costs have been paid, whether these are payments for services provided by various suppliers (for water and sewage services or for gas or heat supply, etc.) or are legal or contractual maintenance obligations (for example, maintenance paid by one spouse to a child from another marriage, etc.).
Settlement of an application for public legal aid. The court will rule on the application for the granting of legal aid by means of a reasoned decision, given in council chamber, after examining the documents submitted by the parties and the competent authorities on file, the parties not being summoned to attend the hearing of the application (Article 15 in Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008). The decision will also be given in open court, in accordance with Article 402 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
Article 16 in Emergency Ordinance No 51/2008 states that public legal aid may be refused if it is requested in an abusive manner, if its estimated cost is disproportionate to the value of the subject matter of the case, and if the granting of legal aid is not requested for the defence of a legitimate interest or if it is requested for an action that is contrary to public or constitutional order.
Appeal against the decision on the application for public legal aid. The person concerned may lodge an application for review of the decision rejecting the application for legal aid within 5 days from the date of communication of the decision. The decision rejecting the application for legal aid or granting it in part shall, therefore, be communicated to the parties concerned, who shall have the opportunity to lodge an appeal for review. The request for review is also decided in the council chamber, but by a different panel, without the parties being summoned, this time the decision is final, by reference to Article 8 of Law No 76/2012.