Communicated on 11 May 2020
Published on 8 June 2020
SECOND SECTION
Application no. 42177/19
Algimantas MARAZAS
against Lithuania
lodged on 31 July 2019
SUBJECT MATTER OF THE CASE
The application concerns refusal of State-guaranteed legal aid.
The applicant was involved in civil litigation with a bank. The first‑instance and appellate courts allowed the bank’s claim and ordered the applicant to pay approximately 726,000 euros (EUR). The applicant applied for State-guaranteed legal aid in order to lodge an appeal on points of law, which could only be lodged by a lawyer. The authorities acknowledged that the applicant’s financial situation warranted granting him legal aid; however, the civil case was related to his commercial activities, and domestic law explicitly excluded the provision of State-guaranteed legal aid in such cases.
The applicant complains under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and Article 14 of the Convention that he was denied access to a court and that the refusal to grant him legal aid disadvantaged him vis-à-vis the bank.
QUESTION TO THE PARTIES
Has there been a violation of the applicant’s rights under Article 6 § 1 of the Convention in view of the fact that he was refused State-guaranteed legal aid for the sole reason that the civil case was related to his commercial activities (see Urbšienė and Urbšys v. Lithuania, no. 16580/09, §§ 52-54, 8 November 2016)?
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