Recital 99

(99)A significant cost for reporting persons contesting retaliation measures taken against them in legal proceedings can be the relevant legal fees. Although they could recover such fees at the end of the proceedings, they might not be able to pay those fees if charged at the outset of proceedings, especially if they are unemployed and blacklisted. Assistance for criminal legal proceedings, particularly where the reporting persons meet the conditions of Directive (EU) 2016/1919 of the European Parliament and of the Council ⁴⁷ , and, more generally, support to those who are in serious financial need might be key, in certain cases, for the effective enforcement of their rights to protection.