Litigation Costs and Legal Aid

AbstractChapter 13 presents the rules on costs and legal aid. It is for the referring court to decide on the allocation of costs in connection with a reference for a preliminary ruling. This means that parties to the main proceedings and any other persons or entities who intervene before the national court may have their costs covered. Others entitled to present observations before the Court of Justice as part of the preliminary reference are responsible for their own costs. The Court of Justice may grant legal aid to a party to the main proceedings who is wholly or partly unable to meet the costs of the proceedings before the Court. The legal aid covers, fully or partly, the costs incurred both for written and oral observations.