On Thursday, July 1, amendments to the regulations of the Cabinet of Ministers regarding the amount of the state ensured legal aid, the amount of payment, reimbursable expenses and the procedure for their payment shall enter into force. The amendments envisage an increase in the amount of payment to the providers of the state ensured legal aid for the legal aid provided, as well as an increase of payment for the time spent travelling to the place of the provision of the legal aid and returning therefrom.
The amendments seek to increase the amount of reimbursement in items such as the preparation of procedural documents, the preparation of appeals and cassation appeals, and the costs of legal aid, including payment for the time spent travelling to and from the place of provision of the legal aid. The legal framework also envisages changing the maximum amount of legal aid within one case from 5 to 7 hours. The increased rates were selected assessing the complexity of the preparation of the aforementioned documents and the time invested in their preparation. The current market prices of the services provided by sworn advocates were also assessed, which shows that the so-called market price is relatively higher in these legal aid positions.
The amount of remuneration has been increased in order to provide adequate remuneration to the providers of state ensured legal aid for the work invested, thus ensuring the quality of legal aid provided to the public.