As an asylum-seeker, you're usually entitled to have a free lawyer. There're some exceptions though...Say, here in Sweden, if your case is a Dublin case, then you're on your own. Also if your case is considered by Migrationsverket (Swedish Immigration Office) as hopeless and manifestly unfounded, then they won't assign you a free lawyer or as its called here a public defender (offentligt bitrade). In Sweden you're entitled to choose your own lawyer as long as he has an agreement with Migrationsverket and paying him won't extraordinarily increase Migrationsverket's expenses. Migrationsverket prefers to assign you their own lawyers. They don't even let your know your rights in regard to a free lawyer of your choice. Also they don't provide a list of lawyers, so you have to find one on your own and within very short period of time. Unless you're a Somalian (and therefore has in Sweden 90% of chances to get a positive decision), its very important for you to have a good lawyer. My personal impression is that at Migrationsverket they're not exactly interested in increasing a public financial burden on swedish tax payers by helping asylum seekers to win their claims. Therefore, my advice for you is to hire your own lawyer that would be covered by Migrationsverket (ie. free for you). I have contacted local human rights organizations and they recommended certain lawyers who in their opinion are better experienced, have higher success rates etc. Here I recommend certain public defenders that I feel are better suited for the job to protect your vital interests.
Of course, if you need an advice and you're not entitled to have a lawyer, then I could help you as good as I can for a low fee. You're welcome to contact me for further information about the matter. I would have to make a research about your personal situation, a situation in your country of origin, your chances of success etc. I would have to contact local organizations and try to inquire on your behalf about your personal question or problem. Unfortunately, it could be very time consuming, plus I have to pay for phone calls, etc. Therefore, I would have to charge you a low fee for this kind of service. Of course, you can always ask at the forum for free...But in that case, I can't guarantee you'll get a proper reply and in a timely fashion.
As per situations in other countries...in Canada you're referred to a local provincial Legal Aid office where if you're found eligible based on your income, they give you a list of lawyers with their phone No.'s. You have to call them yourself and if someone is interested in representing you, then you're all set. In Hungary (in Debrecen) there's a free lawyer in a refugee camp. But it might be better to have no lawyer at all, than to have the one that is for free there. In Austria (Wien-Traiskirchen) refugee camp, they have a relatively good staff who gives a free legal advice. They call them Rechtsbereiters. Also in downtown Vienna, there's a helpful refugee center.
One thing you have to understand though...Free lawyers NEVER have enough time to dedicate to your case. Even the best ones. Of course, its very helpful usually to have a free lawyer than to be on your own without one, but you have to realize what you're about to get. So if you don't have few thousands of extra Euros in your pocket for a private lawyer, you will have to take care of your case yourself too. No lawyer would know as good as you do your personal circumstances, your personal tragedies, all the nuances of your claim and even the situation in your home country. Also lawyers have much less interest in winning your case than you have. They have much less to lose if they fail...
My recommendation would be for you to get to know refugee law in general, similar cases to yours in particular. It could be helpful to get to know case law sites where you can find relevant cases' decisions and reasonings behind those decisions which could be applicable to your situation. Unfortunately, every host country has a different local asylum law and different interpretations of certain legal aspects of refugee law. Therefore, there's no substitute for a local GOOD lawyer who's familiar with all the nuaces of local refugee laws and who knows the mentality of local immigration officers.
