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Until 2022, free legal aid was mostly provided by NGOs, such as OPU, and funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF). Following the expiration of AMIF funding, the MoI published a call for proposals which was only opened to lawyers registered at the Czech Bar Association. However, many lawyers providing free legal aid to asylum seekers and detained foreigners do not have experience in asylum or immigration law. As of March 2024, changes have been made and NGOs are now able to provide free legal aid in reception centres and detention centres alongside registered lawyers.
The legal assistance provided by NGOs or the selected law firm mainly includes advice on procedural rights and obligations, consultations regarding issues related to the individual circumstances of the case, or help with drafting an appeal against a negative decision. Lawyers from NGOs as well as private lawyers may also, within the limits of their current funding, provide legal representation (e.g., at the interview, when accessing the file, or during the familiarisation with the case file before the decision is issued) to applicants they themselves consider suitable or necessary. This option is used primarily by NGO lawyers providing legal assistance. Staff of the contracted law firm, on the other hand, limit their activities to counselling and assistance with drafting remedies.
At the appeal stage of the procedure, these scenarios are the most common regarding free legal aid:
- The applicant uses legal aid of the contracted law firm: they would prepare a briefly justified lawsuit with a proposal to appoint a lawyer and, if the applicant proves that they do not have sufficient financial resources, the court will appoint an attorney at its own expense, from a list of attorneys. There is no requirement that the lawyer must specialize in asylum law.
- The applicant uses legal aid from the NGO: the lawyer would prepare a detailed lawsuit and provide support to the asylum seeker throughout the appeal process.
Both lawyers from NGOs and the contracted law firm have access to all asylum and detention facilities, where they are available on a regular basis (once a week). In addition, they are regularly available in their offices located in larger cities (Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeň, Hradec Králové). NGOs and UNHCR have access to border facilities, but the continuity of funding for this is highly uncertain at the time of writing this report (see Legal Aid). Furthermore, no NGO, including UNHCR implementing partners, has access to the actual airport transit zone where the persons who are yet to formally lodge their application stay. NGOs providing free legal aid at the airport reception centre can only enter this particular centre and require accompaniment to enter this facility.
The situation changed after March 2026. With the end of AMIF project, the MoI informed representatives of NGOs that they will no longer have access to asylum facilities as they are no longer funded by the government. This happened despite the fact that OPU still remains UNHCR’s implementing partner and has enough resources to continue with the provision of legal aid in all the asylum facilities.