Act No. 629 / 2004 Coll.
Law on legal assistance in cross-border disputes within the European Union
Valid
Effective from 14.12.2004
629
THE LAW
of 11 November 2004
on ensuring legal assistance in cross-border disputes within the European Union
Parliament has decided on this law of the Czech Republic:
Cross-border dispute
(1) Cross-border dispute within the European Union1) ("cross-border dispute") means, for the purposes of this law, a dispute arising from civil or commercial relations the participant of which has his place of residence in a Member State of the European Union ("Member State") other than that in which the court which decides the dispute operates ("Court of Procedure").
(2) Any proceeding relating to a cross-border dispute referred to in paragraph 1 which, for the purposes of this Law, is understood to be a proceeding on ordinary or exceptional remedies, a procedure for the recognition of decisions, a procedure for the declaration of enforceability and a procedure for enforcement or execution (hereinafter referred to as "follow-up proceedings') shall also be regarded as a cross-border dispute.
(3) In order to determine whether a cross-border dispute is referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2, the situation shall be decisive on the date on which a request for legal assistance in a cross-border dispute has been made pursuant to Article 2 (1) (b) or when a request for legal assistance in a cross-border dispute under Article 9 (1) (a) has been received to the Ministry of Justice ("the Ministry ').
(4) The provisions of this Act shall not apply in respect of the Kingdom of Denmark.
Providing legal assistance in cross-border disputes where the court of the Czech Republic is a procedural court
(1) If the court of the Czech Republic is a procedural court, legal assistance in a cross-border dispute shall be provided to a natural person where:
(a) has a permanent residence or usually resides in a Member State other than the Czech Republic;
(b) the procedural court itself, or through the competent authority of a Member State (hereinafter referred to as the competent authority of a Member State), or through the Ministry, has made a request for legal assistance in a cross-border dispute in accordance with the model laid down in the implementing legislation;
(c) its financial and social circumstances would justify granting it, in whole or in part, exemption from judicial fees (3); and
(d) the request for legal assistance in a cross-border dispute is clearly not unfounded as it is arbitrary or likely to be unsuccessful in the application or defence of the law.
(2) If the Tribunal finds that he or she is a person fulfilling the conditions set out in paragraph 1 (hereinafter referred to as "the foreign beneficiary '), it shall be provided with legal assistance in a cross-border dispute in the manner set out in Section 3.
(1) The provision of legal assistance in a cross-border dispute to a foreign beneficiary means:
(a) the provision of a procedural representative in accordance with the relevant procedural rules, 4)
(b) the provisions of the interpreter in proceedings before the Tribunal in accordance with the relevant procedural rules, 5)
(c) exemption from judicial fees and payment of the advance on the costs of proof in proceedings before a court of procedure, which is the legal power of the decision of the Tribunal pursuant to Article 4 (3);
(d) the acquisition of a translation of documents which have been submitted by a foreign authorised person in proceedings before a procedural court and which are to be carried out as evidence, according to the decision of the procedural court, from a foreign language other than Slovak language to a Czech language,
(e) the reimbursement of the necessary travel costs of a foreign authorised person incurred in connection with his travel from his place of permanent residence or his habitual residence in a Member State to the seat of the procedural court, where his presence before a procedural court is necessary for reasons of ensuring the equality of the parties or the complexity of the case as decided by the procedural court.
(2) The cost of legal aid referred to in paragraph 1 shall be borne by the State.
(1) The request of a foreign authorised person to provide legal assistance in a cross-border dispute shall be decided by the procedural court by order without undue delay after it has been delivered to it.
(2) If the conditions set out in Article 2 (1) (a), (c) and (d) are not met, or if there is no cross-border dispute under this law (Article 1), the Tribunal will reject the request for legal assistance.
(3) If the procedural court does not reject a request for legal assistance pursuant to paragraph 2, it shall decide that legal assistance in a cross-border dispute shall be granted to a foreign beneficiary; the decision need not be justified and no appeal is admissible.
The decision of the Tribunal to grant legal aid to a foreign beneficiary also applies to all subsequent proceedings (§ 1 (2)).
(1) The Tribunal shall decide, on its own motion, that the foreign beneficiary is required to reimburse the State in whole or in part the costs incurred by the State in respect of the legal assistance so far provided for in Article 3 (1) (a), (d) and (e) where it finds that:
(a) at the time of the application for such legal assistance, the condition for granting such assistance referred to in Article 2 (1) (c) has not been fulfilled because the application of the foreign beneficiary has been accompanied by inaccurate or incorrect information; or
(b) the financial and social circumstances of a foreign beneficiary have changed substantially, particularly as a result of the success of this cross-border dispute.
(2) By the legal power of the decision of the procedural court referred to in paragraph 1,
(a) the obligation of the State to pay the costs of legal aid granted to a foreign beneficiary pursuant to Article 3 (1) (a), (d) and (e) shall cease;
(b) exemption from judicial fees pursuant to Article 3 (1) (c) shall cease.
(3) The procedural court responsible for the decision referred to in paragraph 1 shall be the court which has decided that legal assistance in a cross-border dispute shall be granted to a foreign beneficiary; However, where one of the successive proceedings is pending, the court before which such subsequent proceedings are pending shall be responsible for the decision referred to in paragraph 1.
(4) The obligation to pay the costs referred to in paragraph 1 may be decided no later than 3 years after the last decision in this cross-border dispute, including the decision in the subsequent proceedings.
(5) A foreign authorised person shall notify without delay the facts referred to in paragraph 1 to the procedural court referred to in paragraph 3.
(6) Paragraph 1 shall not apply where the costs of legal aid granted to a foreign beneficiary pursuant to Article 3 (1) (a), (d) and (e), which have been incurred by the State, have been or are to be reimbursed to the State for the costs granted to the State under Article 7.
(1) If the foreign beneficiary fulfils the conditions laid down in the specific legislation for the granting of reimbursement of costs in a cross-border dispute, 6) the procedural court decides that the costs are to be paid instead of the foreign beneficiary of the State.
(2) If the cost of the proceedings granted to the State pursuant to paragraph 1 would be higher than the cost of legal aid granted to a foreign beneficiary pursuant to Article 3 (1) (a), (d) and (e), the State shall be granted only to the extent of the costs. the remaining part of the costs of the proceedings shall be paid to a foreign beneficiary.
Ensuring legal assistance in cross-border disputes in cases where a court of a Member State other than the Czech Republic is a procedural court
If the court is a court of a Member State other than the Czech Republic, legal assistance in a cross-border dispute is provided by the Ministry in the manner and under the conditions set out in Section 9.
(a) State citizens of the Czech Republic, 7) if they have a permanent residence in the Czech Republic or if they usually reside in the Czech Republic, 8)
(b) foreigners who stay continuously in the territory of the Czech Republic in accordance with special legislation9 for a period of 90 days; or
(c) foreigners granted asylum or supplementary protection in the Czech Republic, 10)
(hereinafter referred to as the "national beneficiary ').
(1) The Ministry is required
(a) receive requests from national beneficiaries for legal assistance in a cross-border dispute;
(b) to transmit requests from domestic beneficiaries for legal assistance in a cross-border dispute within 15 days of the date on which the request was received and, where appropriate, from the date on which its defects have been remedied in accordance with paragraph 2, to the competent authority of the Member State in accordance with the model laid down in the implementing legislation;
(c) certify to the national beneficiaries that their application has been forwarded to the competent authority of the Member State.
(2) The Ministry shall provide the authorised domestic person with the necessary synergies to ensure that the request for legal assistance complies with all the requirements laid down by the law of the Member State concerned; To this end, the Ministry shall, in particular, instruct the tenderer how and within what time limit the defect of the application is to be removed and, if necessary, to obtain a translation of the application and the documents to be attached to it in a foreign language on the cost of the State.
(3) Local beneficiaries are required to inform the Ministry, at the same time as a request for legal assistance in a cross-border dispute, whether they have requested legal assistance in a cross-border dispute directly from the competent authority of another Member State to decide on the application in accordance with the law of that Member State.
(4) The Ministry shall decide that the receipt of a request for legal assistance in a cross-border dispute is refused and shall return the application if:
(a) the application has not been lodged by a national authorised person;
(b) the request does not concern a cross-border dispute;
(c) the application is manifestly unfounded, given that it is arbitrary or likely to be unsuccessful in the application or defence of the law,
(d) the national beneficiary has not removed the defects of the application within the time limit set by the Ministry; or
(e) it has been lodged by a national beneficiary who has already made an application in this respect directly to the competent authority of another Member State.
(5) The refusal of an application under points (a) to (d) of paragraph 4 shall not affect the right of the national authorised person to apply directly to the competent authority of another Member State.
The Ministry may decide that the national beneficiary is required to reimburse the State in whole or in part the costs of the translation of the application for legal assistance or the documents to be attached to it in a foreign language in accordance with Article 9 (2), where the application has been rejected by the competent authority of another Member State or the latter has decided that the national beneficiary is required to reimburse, in whole or in part, the costs incurred for the legal assistance so far provided; The Ministry is thus entitled to decide within three years of the date on which the decision of the competent authority of the Member State became final.
Common provisions
(1) Proceedings in the cases referred to in paragraphs 4 to 7 shall be governed by the Civil Code, save as otherwise provided in this Law.
(2) The administrative rules apply to proceedings relating to the matters referred to in Articles 9 (1) (a), 9 (4) and 10. Where a request by a national authorised person to accept a request for legal assistance in a cross-border dispute is made, no administrative decision shall be given.
The compensation payable to the State under Sections 6 and 10 is the income of the State budget.
Entitlement provisions
By decree, the Ministry sets out a model for the application for legal assistance in cross-border disputes pursuant to § 2 (1) (b) and a model for the transmission of the application for legal assistance in cross-border disputes pursuant to § 9 (1) (b).
Efficacy
This Act shall take effect on the day of its publication.
Zaoralek v. r.
Klaus v. r.
Gross v. r.
1) Council Directive 2003 / 8 / EC of 27 January 2003 on the making available of justice in cross-border disputes by laying down minimum common rules on legal assistance in such disputes.
2) Article 59 of Council Regulation (EC) No 44 / 2001 of 22 December 2000 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters.
3) § 138 of Act No. 99 / 1963 Coll., Civil Code, as amended.
4) Sections 30 and 31 of Act No. 99 / 1963 Coll., as amended.
5) Article 18 of Act No. 99 / 1963 Coll., as amended.
6) § 142 et seq. of Act No. 99 / 1963 Coll., as amended.
7) Act No. 40 / 1993 Coll., on the acquisition and renunciation of citizenship of the Czech Republic, as amended.
8) Act No. 133 / 2000 Coll., on the registration of residents and birth numbers and on the amendment of certain laws (Act on the registration of residents), as amended.
9) Act No. 326 / 1999 Coll., on the residence of foreigners in the Czech Republic and amending certain laws, as amended.
10) Act No. 325 / 1999 Coll., on asylum and amending Act No. 283 / 1991 Coll., on the Police of the Czech Republic, as amended, (Act on asylum), as amended.
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Regulation Information
| Citation | Act No. 629 / 2004 Coll., on ensuring legal assistance in cross-border disputes within the European Union |
|---|---|
| Regulation Type | - |
| Author | - |
| Collection | Code of Laws |
| Date of Promulgation | 14.12.2004 |
|---|---|
| Effective from | 14.12.2004 |
| Effective until | - |
| Status | Valid |
The regulation text is for informational purposes only.
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