News item | 08-11-2023 | 4:30 PM
Minister Franc Weerwind for Legal Protection is compensating legal assistance providers such as lawyers and mediators for cost increases due to the high inflation of recent years. The compensation is a one-off subsidy and will be paid out to legal aid providers this year by the Legal Aid Board. Minister Weerwind has allocated a total of €26 million for the subsidy.
Minister Weerwind: “With this one-off compensation, the earnings of legal assistance in 2023 will be in line with the costs they incur in their important work. Social lawyers and mediators who work on addition are the access to justice for the most vulnerable in our society. High inflation has affected the entire society, including legal aid providers. I clearly heard the call in the Sneller motion. I want to support this profession wherever possible.”
Paid automatically
Legal assistance providers do not have to submit an application themselves. The Legal Aid Board will automatically pay out the compensation in December. The amount to be received is determined on the basis of the number of additions issued, picket reports and additional hours granted in the period from October 1, 2022 to October 1, 2023. The total amount for compensation is € 26 million.
Reimbursements
The reimbursements for legal assistance could not immediately increase in line with the cost increases due to the high inflation of recent years. The increase in compensation is based on figures from 2 years earlier. As a result, the indexation for 2023 was 0.67%. From January 1, 2024, the compensation will increase by 5.29%.
Minister Weerwind’s one-off compensation will consist of the difference between these indexations. This means that an additional compensation of 4.62% will be paid out this year in the form of a subsidy. This is the percentage by which the reimbursements will increase as of January 1, 2024, minus the percentage by which the reimbursements will have increased as of January 1, 2023.
Independent commission
In addition to this one-off compensation, Minister Weerwind is working on a better alignment of legal aid compensation with the practice of legal aid providers. That is why an independent committee will be set up this year to investigate how much time was spent on average on certain case types in 2022 and 2023. The aim of this is to investigate whether the reimbursements are still appropriate for the number of hours spent on a case.