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APAJ

For those who can't afford lawyer

The criteria for access to free legal aid from the Administration in Hego Euskal Herria have major shortcomings: only revenue is taken into account, rather than the real economic situation. As a result, a lot of people are left without the free services and unable to cope with the great costs involved in these processes. Law students have created the APAJ association so that all of us can defend their rights.

Mikel Garcia Idiakez

16 January 2014

APAJeko kideak: ezker-eskuin, Asier Iglesias presidentea, Mari Grande diruzaina eta Ane Elorriaga idazkaria. Batez ere, epaitegira joatea eskatzen ez duen aholkularitza juridiko bila datorkie jendea, gizarte laguntzak eskatzeko izapideez edo bankuarekin pilatutako zorrez galdetzera. (Arg: Dani Blanco)

Zarata mediatikoz beteriko garai nahasiotan, merkatu logiketatik urrun eta irakurleengandik gertu dagoen kazetaritza beharrezkoa dela uste baduzu, ARGIA bultzatzera animatu nahi zaitugu. Geroz eta gehiago gara, jarrai dezagun txikitik eragiten.

A divorced woman claims legal aid to report that she is not paid her pension and that part of her child ' s mortgage that her former husband would have to pay her monthly. However, adding the pension of her former husband and the portion of the mortgage that she does not receive, the Administration has decided that she has enough money and that she is not included on the scales to request free services. This is a real case and the woman has come to the Legal Assistance Association (APAJ) in view of the errors that have been detected in the administration.

On the one hand, the possibility of access to legal aid is only allowed in cases where the legal route passes through it. So if you want to claim an accident to insurance, to the phone company, to the bank, to the company, to the tenant and you need an attorney without going to the court, you won't be able to apply for it for free. There is no aid for cases that have multiplied greatly in times of crisis.

On the other hand, the conditions for access to the free service are not adequate, as they look only at revenue based on empty data, and not at the actual situation. Suppose Ana charges 1,300 euros a month, but her husband is unemployed, they have a daughter and they have to pay the mortgage, electricity, food... They would not have access to free service, because only pay is taken into account. According to the regulations of Hego Euskal Herria, which follow the law of the Spanish State, if a person has an income close to EUR 1,000 gross, he cannot ask for such aid (about EUR 900 net); in a family of three people, charging between all EUR 1,300 gross, they can no longer access it; and in a family of four or more people, the limit is EUR 1,600 gross.

“There are many people who cannot access legal services because they have few resources and do not qualify for free care, but also because they do not have enough money to pay for these services,” says Asier Iglesias, president of APAJ. Or you have to be very poor or very rich in accessing justice services, and the ordinary worker who has difficulty getting to the end of the month is left out of justice. After all, justice is not cheap, you have to pay a lawyer, a prosecutor if you go to court and to that you have to add the fees imposed by the Spanish Government, which now has to pay taxes for most of the proceedings.” The APAJ was born in the absence of social initiatives that would help all these people to reach justice.

More appropriate criteria, advice and network of lawyers

APAJ is a nonprofit initiative promoted by people who have known the university and through the university. Asier Iglesias has just completed her career and the treasurer of the association, Mari Grande, and Secretary General Ane Elorriaga, have only a few months left. The association, which was registered in August, is being part of a network of lawyers and attorneys.

They have two types of cases. On the one hand, people come to seek legal advice that does not require them to go to court. If the one approaching communicates their economic situation, they do not make a more thorough analysis and the advice is left to the three leading members of the group. “These cases have no cost, they just ask for our time and we do not charge anything,” explains Iglesias. Procedures for applying for social assistance, accumulated debts with banks and financial institutions… The most common request is advice that does not need a court. “The lack of people’s culture in legal affairs in general is what is sometimes being used by banks and companies, non-compliance with deadlines or ignorance of the client, and the citizen can end up holding his payroll for a debt of less than 2,000 euros,” the president said.

When the case asks to go to court, as there are expenses, APAJ members pay more attention: first they ensure that legal aid has reversed the case and then they assess the real situation, income and economic expenses. Based on this, they see if they can pay a lawyer, and if not, they contact one of the partner attorneys who works with the association to take the case for free. To this network of lawyers and attorneys willing to provide the service, the Association grants a symbolic remuneration that compensates for the minimum expenses (travel, telephone, etc. ). Churches have therefore told us that being able to deal with these second-rate cases depends in part on the funds of the association.

APAJ has three types of partners. The voluntary partner does not provide money and can contribute as it wishes, for example by participating in the activities organised by the association; the regular partner pays EUR 10 per month and has the right to participate and make decisions in assemblies; and the legal partner, in addition to working in cases that the association allows, pays EUR 20 per month and can participate and make decisions in assemblies. Any financial donations or contributions from citizens are also welcomed by Churches: On the web asociacionapaj.org you will find all the information about donation. This year, moreover, the Basque Government plans to submit to the aid of the institutions.

Change of law

The beginnings are being moved, they are having numerous requests for help and in a building that houses several associations will soon have a place in Donostia-San Sebastián. “We have had some criticism from a few lawyers – Iglesias has confessed to us – that they are taking away customers from us, but we told them that what we serve could never pay for their services, that we are not for them, and that we are also talking about a right, the right to defend, and that is above this type of criticism.”

However, the president of APAJ is clear that this right should be guaranteed by the public authorities: “One of our long-term goals is to create a movement that sees and denounces the problem, claims new avenues of access to legal aid or urges to change the criteria of the law so that what is happening today does not happen.”

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