Frequently asked questions

Is help from Jussbuss completely free?

Yes, the help you receive from Jussbuss is completely free. However, you may incur other expenses connected to your case, such as fees to the authorities. Jussbuss will always give you information about what risk of other expenses you face when we take in your case.  

Who can receive help from Jussbuss?

Everyone can receive help from Jussbuss.  We provide legal advice in cases that fall within the areas of law that we have specialized in. We work with rent, debt, financial assistance (sosialstønad), social security benefits (trygd), immigration, labour law and prison law. If your case does not fall within our scope, we can still assist you in finding another legal aid clinic or organization that can help you. During periods in which demand for our assistance is high, we prioritize clients that cannot afford a lawyer.

Why don’t you take cases concerning (…)?

We specialize in certain areas of law and generally do not take cases that do not fall within these areas. The areas we work with are characterised by a lack of other available public or non-profit legal aid inititatives. They are thus areas in which there is a pressing need for legal aid. We also specialize to ensure effective and high-quality assistance. As students, we are not able to represent anyone in a court. For this, you will need a lawyer.

Even if your case does not fall within an area of law that we work with, we still recommend that you contact us. Jussbuss is often able to refer individuals to other legal aid clinics, organizations, or public bureaus that may be able to offer legal advice.

Could you give me the number of a good lawyer?
No, we do not keep a list of recommended lawyers. However, you can find a directory of lawyers at www.advokatenhjelperdeg.no.

Why do you only accept new cases on Mondays and Tuesdays?
Unfortunately, we do not have the capacity to accept new cases throughout the week. When we are not accepting new cases, we are working with the cases at the office. Each case must go through extensive group control to ensure high quality legal aid. This is time-consuming. Therefore, we are not able to accept new cases every day. Current prisoners are exempt from this rule and may contact us any day between 10 am and 3 pm.

Why do you not accept new cases via e-mail?
Though we have previously tried to take in new cases via email, we found that we received many requests in which we could not offer assistance. Jussbuss also struggled to ensure that our clients’ information remained confidential when sent by email. In order to preserve our clients’ confidentiality and efficient casework, we have created a secure online form that you can use to submit your case if you do not have the opportunity to contact us during our opening hours. Click here to register your case. A caseworker will call you during our next ordinary opening hours.

How long does it take Jussbuss to process a case?
The time it takes to process a case varies according to the case’s nature and complexity and Jussbuss’ capacity. Because Jussbuss is run by students, we are usually not able to give an immediate answer to a legal question during our first conversation with a client. Jussbuss’ caseworkers spend lots of time working to ensure that each of our clients receives quality legal aid, despite the fact that our organization is completely student-run. Our internal checks of casework are very thorough and very time-consuming. We can often give general legal advice more quickly than individualized legal assistance that takes into account the specific details of a client’s case.  Jussbuss strives to answer all requests for legal assistance within a couple of weeks, but this may vary by capacity and the complexity of the legal issue.

Are there long queues during your opening hours?
Our waiting time varies. Normally, you will not have to wait more than half an hour. The queue is rarely so long that individuals are unable to meet one of our caseworkers that day. If you contact us by phone during our opening hours, you can leave your name and phone number and we will call back as soon as a caseworker becomes available.