Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

[F1 Regulations N.I.

22.— (1) The[F2 Lord Chancellor] may make such regulations as appear to him necessary or desirable for giving effect to this Part or for preventing abuses thereof by persons seeking or receiving legal aid, advice or assistance and regulations may make different provision in relation to advice and assistance and in relation to legal aid respectively.

(2) Without prejudice to paragraph (1) or any other provision of this Order authorising the making of regulations, regulations may—

(a) make provision as to the proceedings which are or are not to be treated as separate proceedings for the purpose of legal aid, advice or assistance, and as to the apportionment of sums recoverable or recovered by virtue of any order for costs made generally with respect to proceedings treated as separate;

(b) regulate the procedure of any court or tribunal in relation to legal aid, advice or assistance, and in particular make provision—

(i) as to the taxation of costs incurred in connection with proceedings not actually begun; and

(ii) as to the cases in which and the extent to which a person receiving legal aid, advice or assistance may be required to give security for costs, and the manner in which that security may be given;

(c) make provision as to the information to be furnished by a person seeking or receiving legal aid, advice or assistance;

(d) make provision as to the cases in which a person may be refused legal aid, advice or assistance by reason of his conduct when seeking or receiving legal aid, advice or assistance (whether in the same or in a different matter);

(e) make provision for the recovery of sums due to the legal aid fund and for making effective the charge created by this Part on property recovered or preserved for a person receiving legal aid, advice or assistance including provision—

(i) for the enforcement for the benefit of the legal aid fund of any order or agreement for costs made in favour of a person who has received legal aid, advice or assistance; and

(ii) for making a solicitor's right to payment out of the legal aid fund wholly or partly dependent on his performance of any duties imposed on him by regulations made for the purposes of this sub-paragraph.

(3) Regulations may also modify any provision of this Part so far as appears to the[F2 Lord Chancellor] necessary to meet the special circumstances where—

(a) a person seeking or receiving legal aid, advice or assistance—

(i) is not resident in Northern Ireland; or

(ii) is concerned in a representative, fiduciary or official capacity; or

(iii) is concerned jointly with or has the same interest as other persons, whether receiving legal aid, advice or assistance or not; or

(iv) has available to him rights or facilities making it unnecessary for him to take advantage of this Part or has a reasonable expectation of receiving financial or other help from a body of which he is a member;

(b) a person seeks legal aid, advice or assistance in a matter of special urgency;

(c) a person begins to receive legal aid, advice or assistance after having consulted a solicitor in the ordinary way with respect to the same matter, or ceases to receive legal aid, advice or assistance before the matter in question is finally settled;

(d) there is any relevant change of circumstances while a person is receiving legal aid, advice or assistance.

(4) Without prejudice to paragraph (3)( a) regulations may also modify the provisions of this Part in any manner for the purposes of the application of those provisions to advice or assistance—

(a) sought or received by a person who is under such age (not exceeding the age of eighteen years) as may be specified in the regulations; or

(b) sought or received on behalf of any such person by his parents or guardian or other person under whose care he is, or by a person acting for the purposes of any proceedings in Northern Ireland as his next friend or guardian.

[F3 (4A) Without prejudice to the preceding provisions of this Article or any other provision of this Part authorising the making of regulations, regulations may also modify the provisions of, or of any instrument having effect under, this Part (including so much of any of those provisions as specifies a sum of money) for the purposes of the application of those provisions—

(a) in cases where their modification appears to the Lord Chancellor necessary for the purpose of fulfilling any obligation imposed on the United Kingdom or Her Majesty's government therein by any international agreement; or

(b) in relation to proceedings for securing the recognition or enforcement in Northern Ireland of judgments given outside the United Kingdom for whose recognition or enforcement in the United Kingdom provision is made by any international agreement.]

(5) The[F2 Lord Chancellor] shall, before making regulations as to the procedure—

(a) of the[F4 Court of Judicature],[F2 consult] the[F4 Court of Judicature] Rules Committee;

(b) of county courts, consult the County Court Rules Committee;

(c) of magistrates' courts, consult the Magistrates' Courts Rules Committee;

(d) of any tribunal, consult any rules committee or similar body by whom or on whose advice rules of procedure for the tribunal may be made apart from this Part, or whose consent or concurrence is required for any rules so made.

(6) Regulations shall be subject to [F5 negative resolution].]

F1 Pt. 2 (to the extent that it remains in operation) repealed (1.4.2015) by Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/435), arts. 1(2), 49(5), Sch. 5 (with transitional provisions and savings in art. 48, Sch. 3); S.R. 2015/194, art. 2, Sch. (with transitional provisions and savings in art. 3)

F2 SI 1982/159

F3 1982 c. 27

F4 Words in art. 22(5)(a) substituted (1.10.2009) by Constitutional Reform Act 2005 (c. 4), ss. 59(5), 148(1), Sch. 11 para. 6; S.I. 2009/1604, art. 2(d)

F5 Words in art. 22(6) substituted (12.4.2010) by Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/976), arts. 1(2), 15(5), Sch. 18 para. 130(2) (with arts. 28-31); S.I. 2010/977, art. 1(2)