Free lawyers under pressure: pro bono lawyers may get no or only partial compensation in May
From May 2025, almost 4,000 lawyers who represent free litigants thanks to second-line legal assistance - better known as free lawyers or pro bono - are at risk of not receiving their compensation or only partially and with a delay. The justice minister informed Advocaat.be and Avocats.be on Wednesday 9 April 2025 that the upcoming payment is at risk.
You can recognise a good society by how it treats its most vulnerable citizens. Today, the government fails in this, but our lawyers carry on.
Waiting at least a year for reimbursement
Every year, nearly 4,000 lawyers in Flanders face the challenge of being compensated for their work on behalf of vulnerable people. This often involves hundreds of hours of work per lawyer, requiring them to wait at least a year for their compensation after a case is closed. In many cases, it takes even longer.
That structural delay is now in danger of increasing. As there is no approved federal budget for 2025 yet, payments for services rendered in files closed before 30 June 2024 are also at risk. For now, the government is working with the system of 'provisional twelfths': only one twelfth of the previous year's budget may be spent per month. So until the budget is approved, lawyers cannot be paid.
Even if the budget is still approved in June, a payment on 1 July is extremely unlikely. The administrative process takes time.
This ongoing uncertainty is particularly demotivating and undermines the stability and sustainability of the system. A solution is urgent and necessary.
A further delay in paying pro bono lawyers is unacceptable. They are already showing extraordinary patience and pre-financing all services and costs. Does the government realise that it is jeopardising the legal protection of the weakest?
Budget ratios and international comparison
The Belgian system through which litigants can call on a free lawyer requires an annual budget of around €200 million. Legal aid costs about €12.92 per inhabitant per year, according to the CEPEJ Report. In the Netherlands, the annual budget for similar assistance is €400 million - or €31.06 according to the CEPEJ Report.
Cheap and efficient
The free lawyer system is managed remarkably efficiently. The average cost per file - including intake, administration and treatment - is only €32 for the government2. In addition, for this, lawyers comply with consecutive checks and quality guarantees required by the government. But this efficiency has its limits: further savings without fundamental reform threaten to undermine the entire system, and consequently the rule of law.
Call to action
Advocaat.be asks the Minister of Justice to work quickly to find a solution: through reallocation of funds or other administrative interventions, a full and timely payment in May should be guaranteed. Meanwhile, Advocaat.be is evaluating together with the bar associations and the Legal Aid Offices what additional actions are needed.
A well-functioning rule of law requires well-organised legal assistance. Timely payment of lawyers is an essential part of this.
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