Court reduced legal aid costs to statutory maximums, rejecting excessive fees exceeding six times the minimum rate.
Poland (PL)
Legislator summary
AI generatedThe appellate court modified the first-instance judgment to reduce the legal aid fee awarded to the victim's representative from 1,845 PLN to 1,296 PLN. The defendant argued that the lower court failed to verify expert opinions, while the prosecution contended the fee was excessive and violated statutory caps. The court ruled that although the contract between the lawyer and the victim is valid, the awarded amount cannot exceed six times the minimum fee set by the Ministry of Justice regulations, thus capping the award at the maximum permissible rate.
Legislator headnote
AI generatedArt. 119 k.p.w. w zw. z art. 627 k.p.k.; Art. 119 k.p.w. w zw. z art. 624 § 1 k.p.k.; Art. 109 § 2 k.p.w. w zw. z art. 456 k.p.k.; Art. 437 § 1 i 2 k.p.k.; Rozporządzenie Ministra Sprawiedliwości z dnia 4 czerwca 1992 r. w sprawie opłat za czynności adwokackie; When a legal aid fee exceeds the statutory maximum of six times the minimum rate, the court must reduce it to the maximum allowable amount regardless of the private contract between the lawyer and the client.