The role of victim support services in providing legal aid - including formal legal aid as well as more general legal assistance to crime victims - in individual EU Member States varies based on the legal framework and historical development.
Austria is the only EU Member State where the responsibility is fully transferred to victim support services which are contracted by the state, whereas in 14 EU Member States, public authorities fulfil this role. In the remaining cases, the responsibility is shared according to various models, such as distinguishing between legal advice that is provided by victim support services and legal representation that can only be provided by legal practitioners sanctioned by the state. In some Member States, victims' entitlement to legal aid may be restricted to certain categories of victims, offence types or subject to economic means testing. This information is not reflected in this table, which aims at providing a general overview of models of legal aid provision in EU Member States.
Overview of models of legal aid provision in EU Member States
Source: FRA, 2014