Withdrawal of Legal Aid

Facts

The appellant [A.] filed a claim against the landlord [B. AG] with the District Court of Bremgarten on 25 August 2014 for rent reduction and elimination of defects. He applied for the granting of legal aid, which was granted to him by order of 12 November 2014. On 26 November 2015, the President of the Court retroactively withdrew the granted legal aid as of 1 March 2015. The reason for this was the alleged proven claim by the landlord that the appellant had not paid the rent since March 2015. The High Court of the Canton of Aargau dismissed the appellant's appeal against this.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court holds that a retroactive withdrawal of legal aid is exceptionally permissible if there is a significant change in financial circumstances, such as the loss of a significant item of need like rent. Since the appellant had not paid the rent since March 2015, the President of the Court was allowed to disregard the rent in the needs assessment, which led to a surplus of income from social assistance.…