DECISION
In the legal dispute between
1. xxx,
2. xxx,
represented by
xxx,
3. xxx,
represented by
xxx,
Plaintiffs,
Legal Representative: for 1-3: Attorney Sven Adam, Lange Geismarstraße 55, 37073 Göttingen,
against
xxx,
defendant,
The Social Court of Hildesheim, 54th Chamber, decided on October 19, 2012, through its presiding judge, Judge xxx:
The plaintiffs are granted legal aid for the first instance proceedings and lawyer Adam is appointed to represent them in Göttingen.
REASONS
Pursuant to Section 73a Paragraph 1 of the Social Courts Act (SGG) in conjunction with Sections 114 and 115 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO), the plaintiffs are to be granted legal aid because, based on their personal and financial circumstances, they are unable to bear the costs of litigation from their own income or assets, even partially or in installments. Furthermore, the intended legal defense or pursuit of their claim cannot be deemed to lack sufficient prospects of success from the outset. Likewise, the action does not appear frivolous (Sections 114, 118, Paragraph 2 ZPO).
The plaintiffs are correct in asserting that, in the absence of other starting points, the appropriateness of accommodation costs under Section 22 Paragraph 1 of the German Social Code, Book II (SGB II) is to be determined according to the values in Section 12 of the German Housing Benefit Act (WoGG) as amended, plus a safety margin of 10%. This is now the prevailing opinion in recent case law (cf. Higher Social Court of North Rhine-Westphalia, Decision of 09.05.2011 – L 7 AS 165/11 B -; Social Court of Fulda, Judgment of 27.01.2010 – S 10 AS 53/09 -; Social Court of Karlsruhe, Judgment of 29.03.2010 – S 16 AS 1798/09 -; Social Court of Dresden, Judgment of 21.12.2010 – S 29 AS 6486/10 -; Social Court for the State of Saarland, Judgment of 12.01.2011 – S 12 AS 480/09 -; Social Court of Detmold, Judgment of 04.04.2011 – S 10 AS 54/08 -; Social Court of Landshut, Judgment of... 07.02.2012 – S 10 AS 294/11 -, each cited according to juris). The 7th, 11th, and 15th Senates of the Lower Saxony-Bremen State Social Court (LSG) also assume a safety supplement of 10 percent to be granted pursuant to Section 12 of the Housing Benefit Act (WoGG) (see Lower Saxony-Bremen State Social Court, Decision of August 12, 2011 – L 15 AS 173/11 B ER –, cited in juris with reference to the Decision of the 7th Senate of the Lower Saxony-Bremen State Social Court of July 13, 2011 (L 7 AS 1258/09 B ER); Lower Saxony-Bremen State Social Court, Decision of November 21, 2011 – L 11 AS 1063/11 B ER –, cited in juris; see also Hildesheim Social Court, Judgment of August 27, 2012 – S 37 AS 1354/11 – and Decision of May 18, 2012 – S 15 AS 1355/11 PKH Vnb).
This decision is final and unappealable for the parties involved (§ 127 para. 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure); the public treasury has a right of appeal pursuant to § 127 para. 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
