Legal Counseling

Information on Counseling During the Pandemic

Now also available for on-site counseling in the AStA offices! However, we continue to offer counseling via email for mutual protection. The prerequisite is that you send us an email from your university email account and attach all essential documents (letters, contracts, handover protocols, etc.) as PDFs.

Welcome to the legal counseling page. Your legal advisor is the lawyer Alois Saß.

Please note that he only provides "counseling," i.e., an assessment of the legal situation and advice on the next steps you can take. He is not the AStA lawyer who will represent you in legal disputes.

Legal representation is only possible with a separate mandate (appointment) in individual cases. The costs incurred for this must be borne by you and will not be reimbursed by the student body, except in exceptional cases with support from the Legal Aid Fund.

Legal counseling is only available for enrolled students of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. On-site, we will ask to see your student ID, and for emails, we ask you to send them from your university email account. Due to limited capacities, telephone counseling is not possible.

Information

Here you will find some information about how the legal counseling process works and where you can find additional support. The page ends with regularly updated tips.

No Appointments

Legal counseling is provided on a first-come, first-served basis. It is an open consultation hour where you can come directly without an appointment. Please plan for some waiting time. Each consultation typically lasts at least 20 minutes, so usually, the last student is taken in for counseling twenty minutes before the end of the consultation time. 5-minute consultations cannot be conducted at the end of the consultation times. Typically, at least 10 minutes are required to quickly explain your issue.

Please remember this for time-sensitive matters and come early, especially if you have received mail in a yellow envelope from the court, police, or public prosecutor's office.

If the door is open, you can come directly in for counseling. If the door is closed, someone is being counseled. Please knock anyway so the legal advisor can give you an estimate of when you will be seen.

Please understand that we must close the consultation punctually.

All Documents

To make it easier for everyone involved, please bring the following to the consultation:

• All relevant documents (as available)
• Printed out (no USB sticks) or on your phone, tablet, laptop, etc.
• Chronologically sorted
• Study and examination regulations of your subject if you have questions about them
• Rental contracts if you have a question about your rent
• All correspondence (emails, letters, messages)

This allows for quick familiarization and counseling, reducing waiting times for others.

No Exceptions

Legal counseling is only available for enrolled students of the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn. On-site, we will ask to see your student ID, and for emails, we ask you to send them from your university email account. Due to limited capacities, telephone counseling is not possible.

In urgent cases, the following alternatives are available:

Consumer Advice Center (purchase contracts, service contracts, money and credit problems, etc.): most consultations cost 9 euros, some are free. Thomas-Mann-Str. 2-4 (Stadthauspassage) Tel: (02 28) 97 66 934, consultation by appointment only Consumer Advice Center Bonn

Legal Application Office of the Bonn District Court: here you can apply for legal aid (legal initial consultation and representation before going to court for a maximum co-payment of 15 euros) Bonn District Court, Wilhelmstraße 21, Tel. 0228 702-0, opening hours: daily from 08:30 to 12:30, Thursdays additionally from 14:00 to 15:00 More information at: Legal Aid Information

The application for legal aid can be found here: Legal Aid Application

Social and Tenant Counseling of the SPD Faction in the Bonn City Council (free), Thursdays from 18:00 to 20:00 in the SPD Faction rooms in the Old Town Hall. Registration from 17:00, waiting times possible. More information: SPD Social and Tenant Counseling

Your AStA Counseling Team