1969 c. 54.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/34/section/21/1991-04-01Legal Aid Act 1988An Act to make new provision for the administration of, and to revise the law relating to, legal aid, advice and assistance.1988-07-29texttext/xmlenStatute Law Database2017-10-171991-04-01Part V Criminal Legal Aid
21 Availability of representation under this Part.(1)

Representation under this Part for the purposes of any criminal proceedings shall be available in accordance with this section to the accused or convicted person but shall not be available to the prosecution except in the case of an appeal to the Crown Court against conviction or sentence, for the purpose of enabling an individual who is not acting in an official capacity to resist the appeal.

(2)

Subject to subsection (5) below, representation may be granted where it appears to the competent authority to be desirable to do so in the interests of justice; and section 22 applies for the interpretation of this subsection in relation to the proceedings to which that section applies.

(3)

Subject to subsection (5) below, representation must be granted—

(a)

where a person is committed for trial on a charge of murder, for his trial;

(b)

where the prosecutor appeals or applies for leave to appeal to the House of Lords, for the proceedings on the appeal;

(c)

where a person charged with an offence before a magistrates’ court—

(i)

is brought before the court in pursuance of a remand in custody when he may be again remanded or committed in custody, and

(ii)

is not, but wishes to be, legally represented before the court (not having been legally represented when he was so remanded),

for so much of the proceedings as relates to the grant of bail; and

(d)

where a person—

(i)

is to be sentenced or otherwise dealt with for an offence by a magistrates’ court or the Crown Court, and

(ii)

is to be kept in custody to enable enquiries or a report to be made to assist the court,

for the proceedings on sentencing or otherwise dealing with him.

(4)

Subject to any provision made under section 3(4) by virtue of section 20(10), in a case falling within subsection (3)(a) above, it shall be for the magistrates’ court which commits the person for trial, and not for the Crown Court, to make the grant of representation for his trial.

(5)

Representation shall not be granted to any person unless it appears to the competent authority that his financial resources are such as, under regulations, make him eligible for representation under this Part.

(6)

Before making a determination for the purposes of subsection (5) above in the case of any person, the competent authority shall, except in prescribed cases, require a statement of his financial resources in the prescribed form to be furnished to the authority.

(7)

Where a doubt arises whether representation under this Part should be granted to any person, the doubt shall be resolved in that person’s favour.

(8)

Where an application for representation for the purposes of an appeal to the Court of Appeal or the Courts-Martial Appeal Court is made to a competent authority before the giving of notice of appeal or the making of an application for leave to appeal, the authority may, in the first instance, exercise its power to grant representation by making a grant consisting of advice on the question whether there appear to be reasonable grounds of appeal and assistance in the preparation of an application for leave to appeal or in the giving of a notice of appeal.

(9)

Representation granted by a competent authority may be amended or withdrawn, whether by that or another authority competent to grant representation under this Part.

(10)

Regulations may provide for an appeal to lie to a specified court or body against any refusal by a magistrates’ court to grant representation under this Part and for that other court or body to make any grant of representation that could have been made by the magistrates’ court.

(11)

Subsection (3) above shall have effect in its application to a person who has not attained the age of eighteen as if the references in paragraphs (c) and (d) to remand in custody and to being remanded or kept in custody included references to being committed under section 23 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1969 to the care of a local authority or a remand centre.

This XML file does not appear to have any style information associated with it. The document tree is shown below.
<akomaNtoso xmlns:uk="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/UK-AKN" xmlns:ukl="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/legislation" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns="http://docs.oasis-open.org/legaldocml/ns/akn/3.0" xsi:schemaLocation="http://docs.oasis-open.org/legaldocml/ns/akn/3.0 http://docs.oasis-open.org/legaldocml/akn-core/v1.0/cos01/part2-specs/schemas/akomantoso30.xsd">
<act name="ukpga">
<meta>
<identification source="#">
<FRBRWork>
<FRBRthis value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/1988/34"/>
<FRBRuri value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/1988/34"/>
<FRBRdate date="1988-07-29" name="enacted"/>
<FRBRauthor href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/legislature/UnitedKingdomParliament"/>
<FRBRcountry value="GB-UKM"/>
<FRBRnumber value="34"/>
<FRBRname value="1988 c. 34"/>
<FRBRprescriptive value="true"/>
</FRBRWork>
<FRBRExpression>
<FRBRthis value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/34/1991-04-01"/>
<FRBRuri value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/34/1991-04-01"/>
<FRBRdate date="1991-04-01" name="validFrom"/>
<FRBRauthor href="#"/>
<FRBRlanguage language="eng"/>
</FRBRExpression>
<FRBRManifestation>
<FRBRthis value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/34/1991-04-01/data.akn"/>
<FRBRuri value="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/34/1991-04-01/data.akn"/>
<FRBRdate date="2024-11-22Z" name="transform"/>
<FRBRauthor href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk"/>
<FRBRformat value="application/akn+xml"/>
</FRBRManifestation>
</identification>
<lifecycle source="#">
<eventRef refersTo="#enactment" date="1988-07-29" eId="date-enacted" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="1991-03-11" eId="date-1991-03-11" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="1996-01-01" eId="date-1996-01-01" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="1997-03-21" eId="date-1997-03-21" source="#"/>
<eventRef date="2013-04-01" eId="date-2013-04-01" source="#"/>
</lifecycle>
<analysis source="#">
<restrictions source="#">
<restriction refersTo="#extent-e+w+s+ni" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#body" refersTo="#extent-e+w+s+ni" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#part-V" refersTo="#extent-e+w" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#section-21" refersTo="#extent-e+w" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction refersTo="#period-to-2013-04-01" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#body" refersTo="#period-to-1997-03-21" type="jurisdiction"/>
<restriction href="#section-21" refersTo="#period-from-1991-03-11-to-1996-01-01" type="jurisdiction"/>
</restrictions>
<otherAnalysis source="">
<uk:confersPower href="#section-21" value="true"/>
<uk:commentary href="#section-21" refersTo="#c10510161"/>
</otherAnalysis>
</analysis>
<temporalData source="#">
<temporalGroup eId="period-to-1997-03-21">
<timeInterval end="#date-1997-03-21" refersTo="#"/>
</temporalGroup>
<temporalGroup eId="period-to-2013-04-01">
<timeInterval end="#date-2013-04-01" refersTo="#"/>
</temporalGroup>
<temporalGroup eId="period-from-1991-03-11-to-1996-01-01">
<timeInterval start="#date-1991-03-11" end="#date-1996-01-01" refersTo="#"/>
</temporalGroup>
</temporalData>
<references source="#">
<TLCEvent eId="enactment" href="" showAs="EnactmentDate"/>
<TLCLocation eId="extent-e+w+s+ni" href="" showAs="E+W+S+N.I."/>
<TLCLocation eId="extent-e+w" href="" showAs="E+W"/>
</references>
<notes source="#">
<note ukl:Name="Commentary" ukl:Type="M" class="commentary M" eId="c10510161" marker="M1">
<p>
<ref eId="c01517" href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/ukpga/1969/54">1969 c. 54</ref>
.
</p>
</note>
</notes>
<proprietary xmlns:ukm="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/namespaces/metadata" xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" source="#">
<dc:identifier>http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/34/section/21/1991-04-01</dc:identifier>
<dc:title>Legal Aid Act 1988</dc:title>
<dc:description>An Act to make new provision for the administration of, and to revise the law relating to, legal aid, advice and assistance.</dc:description>
<dc:date>1988-07-29</dc:date>
<dc:type>text</dc:type>
<dc:format>text/xml</dc:format>
<dc:language>en</dc:language>
<dc:publisher>Statute Law Database</dc:publisher>
<dc:modified>2017-10-17</dc:modified>
<dct:valid>1991-04-01</dct:valid>
<ukm:PrimaryMetadata>
<ukm:DocumentClassification>
<ukm:DocumentCategory Value="primary"/>
<ukm:DocumentMainType Value="UnitedKingdomPublicGeneralAct"/>
<ukm:DocumentStatus Value="revised"/>
</ukm:DocumentClassification>
<ukm:Year Value="1988"/>
<ukm:Number Value="34"/>
<ukm:EnactmentDate Date="1988-07-29"/>
</ukm:PrimaryMetadata>
<ukm:Alternatives>
<ukm:Alternative Date="2008-03-02" URI="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/34/pdfs/ukpga_19880034_en.pdf" Title="Print Version"/>
</ukm:Alternatives>
<ukm:Statistics>
<ukm:TotalParagraphs Value="137"/>
<ukm:BodyParagraphs Value="52"/>
<ukm:ScheduleParagraphs Value="85"/>
<ukm:AttachmentParagraphs Value="0"/>
<ukm:TotalImages Value="0"/>
</ukm:Statistics>
</proprietary>
</meta>
<body eId="body">
<part eId="part-V">
<num>Part V</num>
<heading> Criminal Legal Aid</heading>
<section eId="section-21" uk:target="true">
<num>21</num>
<heading> Availability of representation under this Part.</heading>
<subsection eId="section-21-1">
<num>(1)</num>
<content>
<p>Representation under this Part for the purposes of any criminal proceedings shall be available in accordance with this section to the accused or convicted person but shall not be available to the prosecution except in the case of an appeal to the Crown Court against conviction or sentence, for the purpose of enabling an individual who is not acting in an official capacity to resist the appeal.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-2">
<num>(2)</num>
<content>
<p>Subject to subsection (5) below, representation may be granted where it appears to the competent authority to be desirable to do so in the interests of justice; and section 22 applies for the interpretation of this subsection in relation to the proceedings to which that section applies.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-3">
<num>(3)</num>
<intro>
<p>Subject to subsection (5) below, representation must be granted—</p>
</intro>
<level class="para1" eId="section-21-3-a">
<num>(a)</num>
<content>
<p>where a person is committed for trial on a charge of murder, for his trial;</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-21-3-b">
<num>(b)</num>
<content>
<p>where the prosecutor appeals or applies for leave to appeal to the House of Lords, for the proceedings on the appeal;</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-21-3-c">
<num>(c)</num>
<intro>
<p>where a person charged with an offence before a magistrates’ court—</p>
</intro>
<level class="para2" eId="section-21-3-c-i">
<num>(i)</num>
<content>
<p>is brought before the court in pursuance of a remand in custody when he may be again remanded or committed in custody, and</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para2" eId="section-21-3-c-ii">
<num>(ii)</num>
<content>
<p>is not, but wishes to be, legally represented before the court (not having been legally represented when he was so remanded),</p>
</content>
</level>
<wrapUp>
<p>for so much of the proceedings as relates to the grant of bail; and</p>
</wrapUp>
</level>
<level class="para1" eId="section-21-3-d">
<num>(d)</num>
<intro>
<p>where a person—</p>
</intro>
<level class="para2" eId="section-21-3-d-i">
<num>(i)</num>
<content>
<p>is to be sentenced or otherwise dealt with for an offence by a magistrates’ court or the Crown Court, and</p>
</content>
</level>
<level class="para2" eId="section-21-3-d-ii">
<num>(ii)</num>
<content>
<p>is to be kept in custody to enable enquiries or a report to be made to assist the court,</p>
</content>
</level>
<wrapUp>
<p>for the proceedings on sentencing or otherwise dealing with him.</p>
</wrapUp>
</level>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-4">
<num>(4)</num>
<content>
<p>Subject to any provision made under section 3(4) by virtue of section 20(10), in a case falling within subsection (3)(a) above, it shall be for the magistrates’ court which commits the person for trial, and not for the Crown Court, to make the grant of representation for his trial.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-5">
<num>(5)</num>
<content>
<p>Representation shall not be granted to any person unless it appears to the competent authority that his financial resources are such as, under regulations, make him eligible for representation under this Part.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-6">
<num>(6)</num>
<content>
<p>Before making a determination for the purposes of subsection (5) above in the case of any person, the competent authority shall, except in prescribed cases, require a statement of his financial resources in the prescribed form to be furnished to the authority.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-7">
<num>(7)</num>
<content>
<p>Where a doubt arises whether representation under this Part should be granted to any person, the doubt shall be resolved in that person’s favour.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-8">
<num>(8)</num>
<content>
<p>Where an application for representation for the purposes of an appeal to the Court of Appeal or the Courts-Martial Appeal Court is made to a competent authority before the giving of notice of appeal or the making of an application for leave to appeal, the authority may, in the first instance, exercise its power to grant representation by making a grant consisting of advice on the question whether there appear to be reasonable grounds of appeal and assistance in the preparation of an application for leave to appeal or in the giving of a notice of appeal.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-9">
<num>(9)</num>
<content>
<p>Representation granted by a competent authority may be amended or withdrawn, whether by that or another authority competent to grant representation under this Part.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-10">
<num>(10)</num>
<content>
<p>Regulations may provide for an appeal to lie to a specified court or body against any refusal by a magistrates’ court to grant representation under this Part and for that other court or body to make any grant of representation that could have been made by the magistrates’ court.</p>
</content>
</subsection>
<subsection eId="section-21-11">
<num>(11)</num>
<content>
<p>
Subsection (3) above shall have effect in its application to a person who has not attained the age of eighteen as if the references in paragraphs (c) and (d) to remand in custody and to being remanded or kept in custody included references to being committed under section 23 of the
<noteRef href="#c10510161" uk:name="commentary" ukl:Name="CommentaryRef" class="commentary"/>
Children and Young Persons Act 1969 to the care of a local authority or a remand centre.
</p>
</content>
</subsection>
</section>
</part>
</body>
</act>
</akomaNtoso>