1A legal service unit shall be functioning at the courts of appeal, composed of legal assistants, established by a decision of the High Judicial Council. The number of legal assistants shall not be higher than half the number of judges per court.

2Legal assistants shall in particular:

aAnalyse the relevant case law on the interpretation of provisions applicable in pending cases;

bProcess cases and prepare standard and simple cases with low complexity in decision making by the judge;

cPerform other tasks for the processing of the case as requested by a judge or as provided by law.

3The chairperson shall assign tasks to a legal assistant, taking into account the professional experience and the specialisation of the legal assistant and by ensuring an equal workload among the legal assistants.

4The judge to whom the case was allocated by lot may deliver instructions to the legal assistant, where necessary. The legal assistant shall be bound only to the instructions of the judge assigned by lot to the case. Any instruction on the interpretation and application of the law has to be in writing and part of the file.

5A legal assistant shall, when processing and preparing the case for decision, perform the tasks:

aIndependently, on the basis of the assessment of the facts and in accordance with a conscientious understanding of the law, free of any extraneous influences, inducements, pressures, threats or interference, direct or indirect, from anyone and for any reason;

bImpartially, without favouritism and without bias.

6The judge assigned by lot shall withdraw the judicial file from the legal assistant, if the judge considers this necessary in regard to the complexity of the case that is related to the facts, application of the law or if this is appropriate in regard to the importance of the decision. In such a case, the judge has to establish a note which presents the reasons for the withdrawal, which is part of the file.

7The legal assistant has to submit to the judge the file of a case without delay.

8The judge has to further process the case, if:

aThe judge will withdraw the case;

bDetects factual or legal questions, which, with regard to the complexity or difficulty of the case, have to be processed by a judge.

9The legal assistant, the magistrate or non-magistrate assistant, is subject to the rules of incompatibility, limitation of office and conflict of interest like a magistrate.

10The High Judicial Council shall establish detailed rules on the professional requirements and criteria that the legal assistant at courts of appeal shall fulfil, the type and nature of the tasks of legal assistants, the type and nature of the cases that shall be processed and prepared by legal assistants, on the criteria and procedure for the case allocation by lot and shall regularly assess the workload of legal assistants and shall ensure an appropriate number of legal assistants for each court of appeal.