The determination of criteria of proportionality of professional legal aid costs in their allocation between the parties: the practice of the Supreme Court

Abstract

The article examines the legal nature of professional legal aid costs primarily in the context of determining the criteria of proportionality of the amount of legal costs incurred by the party to the proceedings and the amount of costs claimed by this party which are subject to compensation. The law enforcement of the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights is analyzed with regard to determining the criteria of proportionality in the amount of such costs and making the decision to reduce this amount in case of their non-compliance. The article argues the position according to which the consequence of finding the inconsistency of the compensation costs for professional legal aid claimed by the party with the above-mentioned criteria, i. e. establishing the disproportionality of such costs, is taking the decision to reduce their amount to be compensated. To achieve this aim the methods characteristic of legal science were applied. The study was carried out employing the dialectical method of inquiry of legal reality which provided an opportunity to analyze the legal nature of the institution of legal aid costs, in particular, in the context of determining the criteria for the proportionality of their amount. The use of the systemic-structural method made it possible to specify the general structure of the work, which contributed to meeting the tasks of this study properly. The dialectical method of inquiry of legal reality enabled the analysis of the law enforcement acts of the courts concerning the procedure for determining the amount of legal assistance costs, primarily in the aspect of establishing the appropriate criteria for their proper compensation. Based on this, the authors have come to the conclusion that the introduction of the principle of proportionality, which envisages the use of a number of evaluative concepts by the legislator, indicates the significant importance of judicial practice aimed at forming effective criteria for determining the amount of costs to be paid for an advocate’s assistance when distributing them between the parties.