Legal aid is a type of state loan for people with low income and assets to cover the legal costs incurred in a legal dispute. In other words, legal aid is intended to help those people who must or want to go to court but cannot cover the costs themselves. It provides financial support for people with low income.

If the application for legal aid is granted, you will be exempt from paying the costs of the proceedings. Depending on your income situation, you will have to pay back the costs that were covered in instalments. Read more about this under the question: Do I have to pay back legal aid?

Be careful: In labour law, legal aid does not cover the other party’s legal costs, which have to be paid after the second instance if you lose the case. Read more about this under the question: How do labour courts work?