Legal Aid (Scope) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2007 No. 166

LEGAL AID AND ADVICE

Legal Aid (Scope) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007

Made

10th March 2007

Coming into operation

30th April 2007

To be laid before Parliament

The Lord Chancellor makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by Articles 10(2), 22 and 27 of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981(1) and now vested in him(2):

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Legal Aid (Scope) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007 and shall come into operation on 30 April 2007.

Amendment to the Order

2.  In Part II of Schedule 1 to the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981, after paragraph 7 there shall be added the following new paragraphs–

“8.   Applications to the High Court under section 103A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (including applications which are considered by a member of the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal pursuant to paragraph 30 of Schedule 2 to the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004) where the person making the application is the person who made an appeal to the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal under section 82 or 83 of that Act.

9.   Proceedings before the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal for the reconsideration of an appeal pursuant to an order made on application to the High Court under section 103A of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002, where the appellant is the person who made the application to the High Court.”

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

Bridget Prentice

Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State,

Department for Constitutional Affairs

Dated 10th March 2007

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend Schedule 1 (proceedings for which legal aid may be given under Article 9) to the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981. The amendment reflects the provision made by section 26 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004.

Part II (excepted proceedings) of Schedule 1 to the Order is amended to add two forms of onward appeal from the Asylum and Immigration Tribunal. For those proceedings, it is the High Court or Tribunal, rather than the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission, which has the power to grant legal aid funding.

(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