

The following costs of a trial can be paid using legal aid:
Through legal aid, a natural person who has insufficient means can obtain legal assistance or legal advice from a lawyer for a specific case.
Persons with insufficient means are eligible for legal aid to defend their interests, provided that they are:
Legal aid may also be granted to any other foreign national with insufficient means in proceedings relating to their right to asylum, entry into the territory, residence, right to settle or removal of foreign nationals.
Whether the applicant’s means are insufficient is assessed on the basis of their total gross income and capital and that of any other members of their household.
Legal aid is refused to persons bringing an action which appears a priori to be unreasonable or unlikely to succeed or whose aim seems disproportionate in relation to the potential costs.
Legal aid may be granted to either the applicant or the defendant in contentious or non-contentious matters, whether handled in or out of court. It can be requested for any action brought before the ordinary courts or the administrative courts.
Legal aid may also be granted in the case of precautionary measures and procedures to enforce court decisions or any other enforceable instrument.
However, it cannot be granted to owners of motor vehicles for disputes resulting from the use of such vehicles. Likewise, it cannot be granted to shopkeepers, manufacturers, craftspeople or professionals in relation to disputes concerning their business or professional activity, except in exceptional and duly justified cases; nor, in general, can it be granted for disputes arising from speculative activity by the person applying for legal aid.
In an emergency, legal aid may be granted provisionally, without further formality, by the Chair of the competent Bar Association (Bâtonnier de l’Ordre des Avocats) for the steps the Chair determines.
The national application form for legal aid in Luxembourg can be obtained from the Central Social Assistance Service (Service Central d’Assistance Sociale) (tel. +352 475821-1).
It can also be downloaded from the website of the Luxembourg Bar (www.barreau.lu) or from the website of the Diekirch Bar (https://avocats-diekirch.lu/fr/accueil).
Any application for legal aid must be accompanied by:
The Chair of the Bar Association in the applicant’s place of residence, or their delegate, decides whether to grant legal aid. For non-residents the decision is taken by the Chair of the Luxembourg Bar Council or their delegate.
The Chair’s decision will be sent to you by post.
In their decision, the Chair will give the name of the lawyer assigned to provide legal assistance and will ask you to contact that lawyer.
The Chair appoints the lawyer that the applicant has freely chosen or, if no lawyer has been chosen by the applicant or the Chair considers their choice inappropriate, the lawyer of the Chair’s own choice. Except on grounds of impediment or conflict of interest, lawyers must accept instructions entrusted to them in this way.
As a rule, legal aid covers all costs relating to the proceedings, procedures or measures for which it was granted (see point 1).
However, legal aid does not cover compensation for procedural costs (indemnités de procédure) or compensation for abuse of process and vexatious proceedings.
Partial legal aid does not exist in Luxembourg.
No, a new application for legal aid for that purpose will have to be submitted.
The Chair of the Bar Association may withdraw an applicant’s right to legal aid, even after the proceedings or measures for which it was granted, if the entitlement is found to have been based on false declarations or inaccurate documents. The right to legal aid may also be withdrawn if the beneficiary acquires financial means during the proceedings or during the completion of these measures or as a result of such proceeding or measures which, had they existed on the day that legal aid was requested, would have precluded any such entitlement. Legal aid beneficiaries or the lawyer appointed have an obligation to notify the Chair of any such changes in their situation.
The Chair’s decision to withdraw the right to legal aid is immediately communicated to the Ministry of Justice (Ministère de la Justice). The Land Registration and Estates Department (Administration de l’Enregistrement et des Domaines) is responsible for recovering amounts already paid as legal aid.
Applicants may appeal the Chair’s decision to reject or withdraw legal aid to the Disciplinary and Administrative Council (Conseil disciplinaire et administratif), whose decision is final. Appeals must be lodged with the Chair of the Disciplinary and Administrative Council by registered letter within 10 days of receiving notice of the decision of the Chair of the Bar Association. The applicant is given a hearing before the Council or one of its delegated members.
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