1. Free legal counselling, assistance and representation shall be provided by legal advisers or other counsellors, admitted or permitted under national law to counsel, assist or represent the applicants or by non-governmental organisations accredited under national law to provide legal services or representation to applicants.
2. Member States shall lay down specific procedural rules concerning the arrangements for filing and processing requests for the provision of free legal counselling, assistance and representation in relation to applications for international protection or they shall apply the existing rules for domestic claims of a similar nature, provided that those rules are not more restrictive or do not render access to free legal counselling or free legal assistance and representation impossible or excessively difficult.
3. Member States shall lay down specific rules concerning the exclusion of the provision of free legal counselling, assistance and representation in accordance with Article 16(3) and Article 17(2), respectively.
4. Member States may also impose monetary limits or time limits on the provision of free legal counselling, assistance and representation, provided that such limits are not arbitrary and do not unduly restrict access to free legal counselling, assistance and representation. As regards fees and other costs, the treatment of applicants shall not be less favourable than the treatment generally given to their nationals in matters pertaining to legal assistance.
5. Member States may request from the applicant the total or partial reimbursement of the costs incurred in relation to the provision of legal assistance and representation where the applicant’s financial situation considerably improves in the course of the procedure or where the decision to provide free legal assistance and representation was taken on the basis of false information supplied by the applicant. For that purpose, applicants shall immediately inform the competent authorities of any significant change in their financial situation.
Correlation table
| Directive 2013/32/EU | This Regulation |
| Article 22(2) | Article 19(1) |
| Article 20(3), third subparagraph | Article 19(2) |
| Article 20(4) | — |
| Article 21(1) | Article 19(1) |
| Article 21(2) | — |
| Article 21(3) | Article 19(2) |
| Article 21(4) | Article 19(4) |
| Article 21(5) | Article 19(5) |
| — | Article 19(3) |