Facts
The complainant, [X.] , and the respondent, [Y.] , have been married since 1984 and have three sons. They have been living separately since October 1998. On November 10, 2004, the husband filed a divorce lawsuit and requested a court ruling on the consequences of divorce. The wife also requested a divorce and a court ruling on the consequences of divorce.
On April 8, 2005, the wife filed a request for free legal aid and for the appointment of a free legal representative for the divorce proceedings. The President of the District Court III Aarberg-Büren-Erlach rejected the request. The High Court of the Canton of Bern, Court of Appeal, 1st Civil Chamber, rejected the wife's appeal against this decision.
The wife requests the Federal Court to overturn the decision of the High Court and to grant her free legal aid for the federal court proceedings.
Considerations
The Federal Court examines whether the criteria for determining need were chosen correctly and whether the federal law provisions on the obligation to pay court costs in advance were applied correctly. Free legal aid can only be claimed by the needy spouse if the other spouse is unable to pay the court costs in advance or if the advance payment imposed on them cannot be recovered or can only be recovered with extraordinary difficulties.
The High Court has established that the husband is able to pay the court costs of the complainant, in addition to his own, based on a summary examination of his income and expenses. The husband can pay the court costs in installments. The Federal Court finds that the husband can pay the court costs in…