NGOs under European Convention on Human Rights / Tymofeyeva

The sum for costs and expenses awarded by the Court typically includes the cost of legal assistance , 1439 court fees , 1440 translation costs 1441 and the like. They may also include travel and subsistence expenses, 1442 in particular if these costs have been incurred by attendance at a hearing before the Court. Karen Reid, in her book, published the document of the CoE titled ‘Legal aid rates’. 1443 According to this document, a lump sum of EUR 300 is awarded to the applicant for appearance at an oral hearing before the Court or to witnesses attending the hearing. A lump sum of EUR 850 per case is paid as fees and expenses for the preparation of the case before the Court. This sum includes costs for filing written pleadings, at the request of the Court, on the admissibility or merits, supplementary observations, submissions on just satisfaction or friendly settlement and normal secretarial expenses (for example, postage, photocopies, telephone). Having regard to these rates, it may seem that representing clients in proceedings before the Court is not very attractive for lawyers. Nevertheless, representation of Article 34 NGOs, in particular, must not always be such a disadvantageous activity. If a legal person obtains a compensation of a few million euros, the lawyers representing its interest will definitely receive sufficient payment for their services. When an Article 34 NGO does not include in its claim for just satisfaction legal costs and expenses or does not provide the Court with the supporting documents, the Court may make a decision to not award any sum under this heading. 1444 For example, in the case of Rodinná záložna, spořitelní a úvěrní družstvo and Others v. the Czech Republic , 1445 the Court observed that the applicant credit union failed to submit any supporting documents. Accordingly, it refused to reimburse these costs. According to thenext rule of theCourt, costs andexpenses claimedby the applicant must have been necessarily incurred . That is, they must have become unavoidable in order to prevent the violation or obtain redress therefor. In the case of The Sunday Times v. the United Kingdom (no. 1) , 1446 the UK government claimed that the expense of using three counsellors was not incurred necessarily. The total sum for their services was 12,000 pounds. Bearing in mind that the delegates were already assisted by one council, the Court noted that it was not necessary for more than one counsel to attend on that occasion. On the other hand, the services in question included not only the appearance before the Court but also the preparation within a relatively short time of a substantial memorial involving much detailed research. Whilst expressing no opinion as to the precise number of counsellors necessary for this purpose, the Court

to Rule 47 made by the Plenary Court on 6 May 2013. The new edition entered into force on 1 January 2014, p. 63.

1439 Greco-Catholic Parish Sfântul Vasile Polonă , cited above, § 122. 1440 Immobiliare Cerro S.A.S. (just satisfaction), cited above, § 30. 1441 DRAFT – OVA a.s. v. Slovakia , cited above, § 102. 1442 The Sunday Times (no. 1) (Article 50), cited above, § 35.

1443 REID, 2012, cited above, p. 896. 1444 Comingersoll [GC], cited above. 1445 Rodinná záložna, spořitelní a úvěrní družstvo (just satisfaction), cited above, § 24. 1446 The Sunday Times (no. 1) (Article 50), cited above, § 29.

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