Civil Cases Account for Increasing Share of State Legal Assistance
State legal assistance meant for financially less well off people was provided on a total of 18,824 occasions in 2011, which is 1,035 times more than a year before.
The amount of state legal assistance given in civil matters grew by 22 percent.
"Last year the volume of civil matters continued to increase in state legal assistance," said chairman of the Bar Association Toomas Vaher. "The share of criminal proceedings was 74 percent, while the share of legal assistance given in civil matters grew by close to a quarter of all matters." He said he expected demand to grow in 2012.
In 2010 civil cases made up 20 percent. Prior to that, criminal cases accounted for 95 percent of cases where state legal aid was provided.
The greatest number of applications for state legal assistance were entered in Tallinn – 7,449 or close to 40 percent.
The Bar Association is in charge of establishing the rates of the fee payable for the assistance and procedure for reimbursing expenses. The state has allotted 3.9 million euros in the state budget for provision and arranging state legal aid in 2012.
Kristopher Rikken