Amendments to the Child Support Commissioners (Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999(1)
3.—(1) The Child Support Commissioners (Procedure) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999 shall be amended in accordance with this regulation.
(2) In the Arrangement of Regulations after regulation 9 insert—
“9A. Legal Aid”.
(3) In regulation 4 (Interpretation)—
(a)after the definition of “the Order” insert—
““the 1999 Regulations” means the Social Security and Child Support (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1999(2);”;
(b)in the definition of “the chairman”—
(i)at the end of paragraph (i) omit “or”; and
(ii)omit paragraph (ii);
(c)after the definition of “Commissioner” insert—
““funding notice” means the approval letter or civil aid certificate from the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission confirming that assistance by way of representation (ABWOR) or legal aid has been granted;”;
(d)after the definition of “legally qualified” insert—
““live television link” means a television link or other audio and video facilities which allow a person who is not physically present at an oral hearing to see and hear proceedings and be seen and heard by all others who are present (whether physically present or otherwise);”;
(e)after the definition of “month” insert—
““Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission” means the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission established under Article 3 of the Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003;”;
(f)after the definition of “office” insert—
““panel member” means a person appointed to the panel constituted under Article 7 of the Social Security (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 and who is a barrister or solicitor.”.
(4) In regulation 8 (Manner of and time for service of notices, etc.)—
(a)after paragraph (1)(b) insert—
“(ba)subject to paragraph (1A), sent by e-mail; or”;
(b)after paragraph (1) insert—
“(1A) A document may be served by e-mail on any party if the recipient has informed the person sending the e-mail in writing—
(a)that he is willing to accept service by e-mail;
(b)of the e-mail address to which the documents should be sent; and
(c)if the recipient wishes to so specify, the electronic format in which documents must be sent.”; and
(c)in paragraph (2) for “delivered or sent to the office” substitute—
“—
(a)delivered to the office in person;
(b)sent to the office by pre-paid post;
(c)sent to the office by fax; or
(d)where the office has give written permission in advance, sent to the office by e-mail.”.
(5) After regulation 9 insert—
“Legal Aid
9A. If a party is granted assistance by way of representation or legal aid, at any time, he shall—
(a)where it is granted by the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission, send a copy of the funding notice to the office; and
(b)notify every other party that it has been granted.”.
(6) In regulation 10 (Application to a Chairman for leave to appeal)—
(a)in paragraph (1) for “An application” substitute “Subject to paragraphs (5) and (7), an application”;
(b)for paragraph (6) substitute—
“(6) Where an application for leave to appeal against a decision of an appeal tribunal is made—
(a)if the chairman was a fee-paid panel member, the application may be determined by a salaried panel member; or
(b)if it is impracticable or would be likely to cause undue delay for the application to be determined by the chairman, the application may be determined by another panel member.”; and
(c)after paragraph (6) insert—
“(7) Where—
(a)any decision or the record of a decision is corrected under regulation 56 of the 1999 Regulations; or
(b)an application for a decision to be set aside under regulation 57 of the 1999 Regulations is refused for reasons other than that the application was made outside the period specified in regulation 57(3) of those Regulations,
any time limit specified by this regulation shall run from the date on which notice of the correction or refusal was sent or given to the applicant.”.
(7) In regulation 22 (Hearings), after paragraph (6) insert—
“(6A) Subject to the direction of a Commissioner—
(a)any person or organisation entitled to be present and be heard at a hearing; and
(b)any representative of such a person or organisation,
may be present by means of a live television link.
(6B) Any provision in these Regulations which refers to a party or representative being present is satisfied if the party or representative is present by means of a live television link.”.
(8) In regulation 26 (Determinations and decisions of a Commissioner), in paragraph (5) before “any other information” insert “so far as practicable,”.
(9) In regulation 28 (Setting aside decisions on certain grounds), in paragraph (1)—
(a)at the end of sub-paragraph (b) omit “or”; and
(b)omit sub-paragraph (c).
(10) In regulation 30 (Application to a Commissioner for leave to appeal to the Court of Appeal), for paragraph (2) substitute—
“(2) Where—
(a)any decision or record of any decision is corrected under regulation 27; or
(b)an application for a decision to be set aside under regulation 28 is refused for reasons other than that the application was made outside the period specified in regulation 28(2),
the period specified in paragraph (1) shall run from the date on which written notice of the correction or refusal of the application to set aside is sent to the applicant.”.