Court of Justice of the European Communities (including Court of First Instance Decisions)

ORDER OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE FIFTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT

10 May 2011 (*)

(Legal aid)

In Case T-190/10 AJ II,

Margaret Hackett, residing in Borris-in-Ossory (Ireland), represented by K. Neary, Solicitor,

applicant,

v

European Parliament, represented by N. Lorenz, D. Moore and N. Görlitz, acting as Agents,

defendant,

APPLICATION for legal aid under Article 95 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court,

THE PRESIDENT OF THE FIFTH CHAMBER OF THE GENERAL COURT

makes the following

Order

1 By application lodged at the Court Registry on 22 April 2010, the applicant, Mrs Margaret Hackett, and Mrs Kathleen Egan brought an action for annulment of the decision of the European Parliament of 12 February 2010 refusing them access to the documents requested by means of the initial application of 16 February 2009 and the confirmatory application of 28 January 2010.

2 By separate document lodged at the Registry on 26 August 2010, the applicant applied for legal aid pursuant to Article 94 of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court.

3 In her application, the applicant provided information on her income, capital and her family situation. She attached relevant supporting documents.

4 By letter lodged at the Court Registry on 24 September 2010, the European Parliament informed the Court that it did not have any observations to make on the applicant's application for legal aid.

5 According to Article 94(1) of the Rules of Procedure, in order to ensure effective access to justice, legal aid granted for proceedings before the Court is to cover, in whole or in part, the costs involved in legal assistance and representation by a lawyer in proceedings before the Court. The cashier of the Court is to be responsible for those costs.

6 Under Article 94(2) and (3) of the Rules of Procedure, the grant of legal aid is subject to the double requirement, firstly, that the applicant, because of her economic situation, be wholly or partly unable to meet the costs involved in legal assistance and representation by a lawyer in proceedings before the Court, and, secondly, that her application should not appear to be manifestly inadmissible or manifestly unfounded.

7 Furthermore, under the first subparagraph of Article 95(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the application for legal aid must be accompanied by all information and supporting documents making it possible to assess the applicant's economic situation, such as a certificate issued by the competent national authority attesting to her economic situation.

8 Finally, under Article 96(2) of the Rules of Procedure, the decision on the application for legal aid is to be taken by the President by way of an order, which must state the reasons on which it is based in the case of refusal. According to paragraph 6 of that article, no appeal is to lie from orders made concerning legal aid.

9 In the present case, it must be borne in mind that by way of evidence of her economic situation, the applicant produced, as an annex to her application, information on her family situation and the status of certain loans and credits which she had to repay concerning, inter alia, immovable property which she owns with her husband, a statement regarding shares held by her husband, a tax assessment for the applicant and her husband for the year 2009, and finally, a letter dated 10 June 2010 regarding her tax status for the year 2008 from the competent Irish authorities.

10 That information and documentation is sufficient to allow an assessment of the applicant's economic situation and it should therefore be concluded that the application complies with the first subparagraph of Article 95(2) of the Rules of Procedure.

11 However, in the light of the applicant's income, her property, and her husband's share portfolio, it must be held, taking account of her family situation, that the applicant is not wholly or partly unable to meet the costs involved in legal assistance and representation by a lawyer in proceedings before the General Court.

12 Consequently, since one of the conditions for granting legal aid is not fulfilled, the application for legal aid lodged by the applicant in this case must be dismissed.

On those grounds,

The President of the Fifth Chamber of the General Court hereby orders:

The application for legal aid in Case T-190/10 AJ II is dismissed.

Luxembourg, 10 May 2011.

* Language of the case: English.

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