M.C. v. BULGARIA JUDGMENT 35 agreement with her lawyer, signed in 2003 by her mother, and a time sheet. The applicant's lawyer explained that the fee agreement had been signed by the applicant's mother because he had been initially hired by her, the applicant having been under age at the time. 196. The Government stated that the fee agreement was not valid because the applicant had turned 18 in September 1998 and since then her mother had no longer been entitled to act on her behalf. Even at the time of the initial, apparently oral, agreement between the mother and the lawyer, the applicant had been over 14 years of age and had thus been entitled under Bulgarian law to perform legal acts with her mother's approval. 197. The Government also stated that the parties had agreed on the hourly rate of EUR 40 in 2003, at the final stage of the proceedings, which meant that a high and arbitrary fee had been fixed. In “other circumstances”, the applicant would not have agreed to pay such amounts. 198. According to the Court's established case-law, costs and expenses will not be awarded under Article 41 unless it is established that they were actually and necessarily incurred and are also reasonable as to quantum. Furthermore, legal costs are only recoverable in so far as they relate to the violation found (see Beyeler v. Italy (just satisfaction) [GC], no. 33202/96, § 27, 28 May 2002). 199. The Government have not disputed the fact that the applicant's lawyer had carried out legal work in her case, after being given a power of attorney dated 27 November 1997 signed by the applicant and her mother, at a time when the applicant had not yet reached the age of majority (see paragraphs 2 and 9 above). It has not been alleged that the applicant disputes the costs her lawyer has charged her or that the amounts claimed are unrelated to the violation found in the present case. In these circumstances, there is no doubt that the legal costs claimed were actually and necessarily incurred. 200. The Government have not objected to the number of hours of legal work claimed. The Court further considers that the hourly rate of EUR 40 is not excessive. Accordingly, deducting EUR 630 received in legal aid from the Council of Europe, it awards EUR 4,110 in respect of costs. C. Default interest 201. The Court considers it appropriate that the default interest should be based on the marginal lending rate of the European Central Bank, to which should be added three percentage points.