Samenvatting

What do citizens do when they think they have a problem that involves the law? Just like 40 years ago the main bottleneck in such a situation is where to find good advice on which steps to take. However, the difference compared to 40 years ago is the existence of more and a greater variety of organisations offering legal advice. This article describes the evolution of legal aid in the Netherlands, supplemented by comments of two people who have been personally involved in this development, Peter van den Biggelaar and Maurits Barendrecht. Mr Van den Biggelaar is director of the Dutch Board for Legal Aid, while Mr Barendrecht is research director of Hiil Innovating Justice and law professor at the University of Tilburg.