How to apply for free legal aid and what happens next

Terms used

• Colegio de Abogados — The Colegio de Abogados is the local bar association, which takes legal aid applications and names a duty lawyer.
• Servicio de Orientación Jurídica — The Servicio de Orientación Jurídica is the Colegio office where you file a legal aid application.
• Comisión de Asistencia Jurídica Gratuita — The Comisión de Asistencia Jurídica Gratuita is the regional body that decides whether you get free legal aid.
• Procurador — A procurador is the court representative who files papers and handles formalities for you in court.

Key rules

• Where to file: File at the Colegio's Servicio de Orientación Jurídica or at the court handling your case.
• Timing: Apply before your first filing or deadline, because the aid does not cover work done earlier.
• Running deadlines: Your application can pause court deadlines, but tell the court and your lawyer straight away.
• Refusal: If aid is refused you pay for work done, unless you win a challenge before the judge.

Where you file and who decides

You file at the Colegio de Abogados (the local bar association) for the court area where your case is or will be. Each Colegio has a Servicio de Orientación Jurídica, the office that takes applications. You can also file at the court handling your case, which passes it to the Colegio.

A regional body, the Comisión de Asistencia Jurídica Gratuita, makes the decision. Most regions have one in each provincial capital. Ceuta, Melilla and cases in the national courts go to the Ministry of Justice's Comisión. To find yours, look at where the court or proceeding is located and ask the local Colegio. Forms and online filing options differ by region, so ask the Colegio what it accepts.

The steps and the documents are in the blocks below. Gather the documents first, because missing papers slow everything down.

How long the decision takes

The Comisión has 30 days to decide, and if it stays silent the aid is treated as granted. Count from the day it received your complete file, not the day you first handed it in. Ask your Comisión how it counts the period. If 30 days pass with no answer, ask the Colegio or Comisión to confirm in writing that the aid is treated as granted. The lawyer named provisionally then stays on definitively.

If the aid is refused, you must pay the lawyer and court representative (procurador) for the work done, unless the refusal is overturned. You can challenge a refusal before the judge, and the window is short, so act as soon as you get the decision.

Apply early

You can ask for aid at any stage, but apply before your first filing or deadline. The aid is not retroactive and does not cover work done before your application. You will usually not get back costs you already paid.

Effect on running deadlines

Applying can pause deadlines that are running. A request made before starting proceedings, or by someone already in proceedings, suspends the procedural deadlines until a lawyer (and a procurador, if needed) is provisionally named, or until the application is definitively decided. If you file through the court, the proceedings are suspended until the decision.

Do not rely on this alone. Tell the court and your lawyer on the day you apply, and keep proof of the filing date. How the pause works can depend on the court's order, so ask the court or your Colegio if a deadline is close.

Step-by-step: applying for free legal aid

• File the official application form with your documents at the Servicio de Orientación Jurídica (SOJ) of your local Colegio de Abogados (the Bar Association), or at the court handling your case, which passes it on: Before you start the case, or as soon as possible if it has already started

• The Colegio checks that the file is complete and asks you for anything missing: Soon after you file

• The Colegio provisionally names a duty lawyer, and a court representative (procurador) if one is needed, and sends your file to the Comisión de Asistencia Jurídica Gratuita: After the file is complete

• In urgent cases, the court or the Colegio names a lawyer provisionally before the Comisión decides, for example where a right is at risk or in criminal matters: When urgency requires it; in cases such as domestic violence or detention, help is immediate

• The Comisión checks your eligibility, may ask for more information or look at your tax data, and grants or refuses the aid: Within 30 days of receiving your file with the documents; if it stays silent, the aid is treated as granted

• The decision is sent to you, the Colegio and the court, and the Colegio confirms or cancels the lawyer it named: After the Comisión decides

Documents you need for a legal aid application

• The official application form (solicitud de asistencia jurídica gratuita), with your declaration of means

• ID: your DNI, NIE or passport. A passport is accepted as ID; the NIE is often asked for as an identifier.

• Proof of residence status if you are a non-EU foreigner. Without legal residence, you can still apply for matters about your stay, return, expulsion or asylum, or as a victim of violence or trafficking.

• Proof of address (padrón, the certificate from your town hall that you live there)

• Proof of who is in your household, such as the family book or a certificate. This covers you, your spouse or partner, and your children who are minors or incapacitated, or you and the children living with you if you are a single parent.

• Proof of income for every household member, such as payslips, your latest tax return (IRPF) or a tax agency certificate. Count gross yearly income from work, capital and property. Income of anyone on the opposing side of the case is not counted.

• Proof of property and assets, such as bank statements and property details

• Documents about your case, such as the claim or summons

• If you earned income abroad: official documents from that country, such as payslips, tax returns, employer certificates or bank statements, with a sworn translation if they are not in Spanish or the region's co-official language. Some Comisiones also ask for legalisation or an apostille.

• Your authorisation for the Comisión to consult your tax agency data, which many Comisiones use instead of paper proof

• If you get a notice that your file is incomplete, send the missing documents within 10 days. If you miss that, the application is archived, no aid is granted and you must file a new one.

Checklist

• Find the Colegio de Abogados for the court area where your case is or will be, and ask which region's Comisión decides.

• Tell the court and your lawyer that you applied, since the request can pause deadlines that are running.

• Answer quickly if the Colegio or the Comisión asks for missing documents or more information.

• Note the date the Comisión received your complete file, and count 30 days from it.

• Keep the written decision, and if it is a refusal, pay attention to the short window to challenge it before the judge.

What if your legal aid is pending but a deadline is running?

File the application before the deadline runs out. A properly filed application pauses the procedural deadlines that are running, but only for a limited time and only for certain deadlines.

What the pause covers

The pause applies to time limits that would otherwise be running against you, such as limitation and expiry periods. It applies whether you apply before starting a case or while you are already in one. It only protects you if the application was filed in time and not as a delaying tactic.

The pause lasts until one of two things happens:

• The Bar provisionally assigns you a lawyer and, where needed, a court representative (procurador).
• The legal aid commission definitively decides your application.

If the Bar assigns a lawyer, the pause ends then. It ends earlier if you are told to appoint your own lawyer. If you file the application with the court, the proceedings are paused until the decision.

How the pause works in practice depends on the court order and the type of proceedings, so ask the Bar's legal aid service or the court clerk which of your deadlines it covers.

If you need a lawyer before the decision

When the case is urgent, you do not have to wait for the commission. The court or the Bar's legal aid service can assign a lawyer and court representative provisionally. This applies where the law requires a lawyer, where your rights are at risk, and in criminal matters. Help is immediate in some cases, such as domestic violence or detention. Your lawyer's place in the case then depends on the commission's final decision.

Legal aid is not retroactive. It does not cover work done before your application, so a lawyer you paid earlier is usually not refunded. In some cases the commission can recognise earlier work if you applied before the deadline.

If your application is refused

The pause ends and the clock restarts from the day the final refusal is notified to you. Deadlines then run again for the time you had left.

You can challenge the refusal before the judge. While that challenge is pending, the pause continues until the court decides. After that decision, you must act within the time that remains.

If you are told to appoint a private lawyer, your deadlines run from that notice.

Deadlines can be short. As soon as you receive a refusal, ask your lawyer to confirm the exact date your time restarts.

Frequently asked questions

Can I ask for legal aid after my case has already started?

Yes, you can ask for legal aid at any stage, but it only covers work done after your request. Work your lawyer did before you applied is generally not covered, and money you already paid may not come back.

Does applying for legal aid stop my court deadlines running?

Yes, applying can pause deadlines that are running, until a lawyer is provisionally named or the application is decided. The pause ends when the Colegio names a lawyer, or earlier if you are told to appoint your own. If you file at the court, the case is paused until the decision.

Who do I pay if legal aid is refused?

If aid is refused, you must pay the lawyer and court representative for the work they already did, unless the refusal is overturned. Ask your lawyer for a fee note for that work.

Which Comisión handles my application if I live in Ceuta or Melilla?

In Ceuta and Melilla, the Ministry of Justice's Comisión handles your application, as it does for cases in the national courts. Elsewhere, the Comisión is usually in the provincial capital of the region where the court is. Ask the local Colegio which one is yours.