The Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Regulations 1996

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires–

“the Act” means the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986;

“the 1992 Act” means the Social Security and Contributions Act 1992(1);

“the 1995 Act” means the Children (Scotland) Act 1995(2);

“assisted person” means a person in receipt of legal aid in the proceedings in question;

“child” means a person under the age of 16 years;

“counsel” includes a solicitor-advocate, except in regulations 21(1)(c), 44 and 45 below;

“Employment Appeal Tribunal” means the Employment Appeal Tribunal established under section 87 of the Employment Protection Act 1975(3);

“Fund” means the Scottish Legal Aid Fund;

“income” includes benefits and privileges, and the income of the person concerned includes any sum payable for the purpose of the maintenance of a child including any sum payable to him under the order of a court or under any agreement for that purpose;

“interest in land” has the same meaning as in section 28(1) of the Land Registration (Scotland) Act 1979(4);

“junior counsel” includes a junior solicitor-advocate;

“legal aid” means “civil legal aid” within the meaning of section 13(2) of the Act(5);

“legal representative” means a person having parental responsibilities in relation to a child or a curator bonis, tutor, judicial factor or guardian;

“maximum contribution” means the maximum amount of a person’s contribution to the Fund in respect of any proceedings;

“opponent”, in relation to an application for legal aid, means a party, other than the applicant, interested in the proceedings for which legal aid is sought;

“parental responsibilities” has the meaning given in section 1(3) of the 1995 Act;

“parental rights” has the meaning given in section 2(4) of the 1995 Act;

“period of computation” means the period of 12 months next ensuing from the date of the application for legal aid, or such other period of 12 months as in the particular circumstances of any case the Board may consider to be appropriate;

“person concerned” means the person whose disposable income, disposable capital, and maximum contribution are to be determined or redetermined or the person whose resources are to be treated as the resources of any other person, under these Regulations;

“right of audience” means, in relation to a solicitor, a right of audience in the Court of Session, the House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council which a solicitor has by virtue of section 25A (rights of audience in specified courts) of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980(6);

“senior counsel” includes a senior solicitor-advocate, except in paragraph (2) below;

“solicitor-advocate” means a solicitor, whether instructed by another solicitor or not, when and only when he is exercising his right of audience or acting in connection with the exercise of such a right and “junior solicitor-advocate” and “senior solicitor-advocate” shall be construed in accordance with paragraph (2) below;

and, unless the context otherwise requires, any reference in these Regulations to a solicitor does not include a solicitor when acting as a solicitor-advocate.

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, a solicitor-advocate shall be–

(a) a senior solicitor-advocate, where he is undertaking work equivalent to that which would be done by a senior counsel in a case in the House of Lords or where the Board has authorised the employment of senior counsel under regulation 21(1)(b) or (2) below; and

(b) a junior solicitor-advocate, where he is undertaking work equivalent to that which would be done by a junior counsel, irrespective of whether or not the Board has authorised the employment of senior counsel in the case.

(1)

1992 c. 4.

(2)

1995 c. 36.

(3)

1975 c. 71.

(4)

1979 c. 33.

(5)

Section 13(2) was amended by the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990, Schedule 8, paragraph 36(3).

(6)

1980 c. 46; section 25A was inserted by the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990, section 24, and was amended by the Criminal Procedure (Consequential Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 40), Schedule 4, paragraph 31.