Benefit of foreigners from legal aid

Legal aid is the temporary exemption of people who are incapable of paying trial and follow-up expenses from these expenses, their benefit from legal services and exemption from security costs. As a requirement of the social rule of law, everyone must be able to exercise their freedom to seek justice and their right to access the court effectively and equally. Thus, the right to a fair trial, which guarantees the right to access the court and the principle of equality of arms, is also secured. As a matter of fact, it is clear that the legal aid institution, which opens the way to access to justice by eliminating economic inadequacies, is related to the right to a fair trial. There are regulations regarding the legal aid institution in both national legislation and international documents and agreements. In our law, it is possible for foreigners as well as Turkish citizens to benefit from the legal aid institution. It is necessary to determine who the foreigners who will benefit from legal aid are and to evaluate under what conditions legal aid will be provided within the scope of existing legal regulations. Although it seems theoretically possible for foreigners in our country to benefit from legal aid, various problems are encountered in practice. Foreigners not being aware of their right to legal aid, restricting access to lawyers for foreigners under administrative detention, preventing lawyers from meeting with these people, and the problem of translators in meetings between lawyers and foreigners are just a few of these problems. It would be appropriate for our study to touch upon the theoretical and practical aspects of foreigners' use of legal aid and the case law on the subject.