Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2003 No. 88

LEGAL AID AND ADVICE

Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

Made

19th February 2003

To be laid before Parliament

24th February 2003

Coming into operation

7th April 2003

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 9(2), 12(2), 22 and 27 of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(1) and now vested in him(2), hereby makes the following Regulations: –

Citation, commencement and interpretation

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003 and shall come into operation on 7th April 2003.

(2) In these Regulations –

(a) “the Order” means the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981;

(b) “personal injuries” includes any death and any disease or other impairment of a person’s physical or mental condition.

Saving and revocation

2.—(1) These Regulations shall apply to any application for legal aid where the period of computation, as defined in Regulation 1(2) of the Legal Aid (Assessment of Resources) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1981(3), begins on or after 7th April 2003.

(2) The Legal Aid (Financial Conditions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2002(4) are hereby revoked save in their application to any case to which paragraph (1) does not apply.

Persons eligible for legal aid

3.  For the yearly sums specified in Article 9(1) of the Order(5) there shall be substituted –

(a) where legal aid is sought in connection with taking, defending or being a party to proceedings which include a claim in respect of personal injuries, for the yearly sum of “£9,188”, the yearly sum of “£9,307”; and

(b) in any other case, for the yearly sum of “£8,335”, the yearly sum of “£8,443”.

Contributions from persons receiving legal aid

4.  For the yearly sum of “£2,814” specified in Article 12(1)(a) of the Order(6) there shall be substituted the yearly sum of “£2,851”.

Irvine of Lairg, C.

Dated 19th February 2003.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations amend the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 so as to:

(a) increase the upper income limit to make legal aid available to those with disposable incomes of not more than £8,443 (instead of £8,335), or in connection with proceedings involving a personal injury £9,307 (instead of £9,188) (Regulation 3);

(b) increase the lower income limit below which legal aid is available without payment of a contribution to £2,851 (instead of £2,814) (Regulation 4).

No changes are made to the capital limits.

(1)

S.I. 1981/228 (N.I. 8); Article 27 is an interpretation provision and is recited because of the meaning assigned to the words “prescribed” and “regulations”

(2)

S.I. 1982/159

(3)

S.R. 1981 No. 189

(4)

S.R. 2002 No. 60

(5)

Which sums were most recently substituted by S.R. 2002 No. 60

(6)

Which figure was most recently substituted by S.R. 2002 No. 60