Far fewer Danes gaining access to public legal aid

Limit on how much one can earn before getting legal aid deemed too low

It’s become increasingly difficult for the average Dane to acquire legal aid from the public sector to pay off legal bills, according to a new report from the Justice Ministry.

In 2006, over 8,000 cases in which a citizen was granted legal aid were tried in Danish city courts – a considerably higher number than the just 2,000 cases from 2015.

“This probably excludes a lot of people from seeking legal aid, and that means that people or companies with a lot of money and muscle can crush those with less resources at their disposal,” Peter Skaarup, an MP for Dansk Folkeparti, told Altinget newspaper.

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Søren says no
Skaarup contended that the development limits too many citizens and one of the reasons why is because the limit for how much one can earn before being approved for legal aid is too low.

However, the justice minister, Søren Pind, said that he didn’t think there were any grounds to propose any changes to the current legislation.