Lawyers steer clear of legal aid cases due to non-payment

Lawyers have been abstaining from providing legal aid for three weeks in response to not having been paid for their services for more than three years. Legal aid is the provision of legal representation to those unable to pay for legal representation. 

However, the understaffed Court Building Financing Fund (TAXDIK) authority, responsible for issuing payment orders, is notoriously slow.

Bar association figures suggest 43,000 files are pending for clearance while an average of 30,000 cases per year require legal assistance.

The income threshold below which a citizen can apply for legal aid was €7,500 euros but a year ago it was raised to €12,500.

“The state is making social policy on the backs of lawyers. This is not reasonable,” stressed Athens Bar Association President Dimitris Vervesos. “If lawyers owe the state, their VAT number is frozen. If the state owes a lawyer, it’s OK,” he told Kathimerini. 

kathimerini