Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986

10 Financial limit. S

(1) Where at any time (whether before or after advice and assistance has begun to be provided to a client) it appears to the solicitor [F1 or, as the case may be, adviser] that the cost of giving it is likely to exceed the limit applicable under this section—

(a) the solicitor [F2 or adviser] shall determine to what extent that advice and assistance can be provided without exceeding that limit; and

(b) shall not give it (or, as the case may be, not instruct counsel to provide it) so as to exceed that limit except [F3 , subject to subsection (4),] with the approval of the Board.

(2) The limit applicable under this section is [F4 £60].

(3) For the purposes of this section, the cost of providing advice and assistance shall be taken to consist of such of the following as are applicable in the circumstances—

(a) any outlays (including the fees and outlays of counsel) which may be incurred by the solicitor or his firm or incorporated practice in, or in connection with, the providing of the advice and assistance;

[F5 (aa) any outlays which may be incurred by the registered organisation (which approved the adviser) in, or in connection with, the providing of the advice and assistance;]

(b) any fees (not being charges for outlays) which, apart from section 11 of this Act, would be properly chargeable by the solicitor or his firm or incorporated practice in respect of the advice and assistance; and

[F6 (ba) any fees (not being charges for outlays) which, apart from section 11 of this Act, would be properly chargeable by the registered organisation (which approved the adviser) in respect of the advice and assistance;]

(c) in the case of advice and assistance given by a solicitor employed by the Board, any fees (not being charges for outlays) which, if the solicitor had been employed by a firm of solicitors or by an incorporated practice, would, apart from section 11 of this Act, have been properly chargeable by that firm or practice in respect of the advice and assistance.

[F7 (4) In the circumstances set out in subsection (5), no application may be made for the Board's approval for the cost of giving the advice and assistance—

(a) to exceed the limit applicable under this section; or

(b) to that limit having been exceeded.

(5) The circumstances are that the matter with which the advice and assistance is concerned is not—

(a) specified as a distinct matter for the purposes of advice and assistance by virtue of regulations made under this Act; or

(b) being treated as if it were a distinct matter by virtue of such regulations.]

Textual Amendments

F1 Words in s. 10(1) inserted (30.7.2007) by Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 (asp 5), ss. 67(4)(a)(i), 82(2) (with s. 77); S.S.I. 2007/335, art. 2(a)

F2 Words in s. 10(1)(a) inserted (30.7.2007) by Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 (asp 5), ss. 67(4)(a)(ii), 82(2) (with s. 77); S.S.I. 2007/335, art. 2(a)

F3 Words in s. 10(1)(b) inserted (8.2.2007) by Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 (asp. 5), ss. 69(2)(a), 82(2) (with s. 77); S.S.I. 2007/57, art. 2(a)

F4 Sum in s. 10(2) substituted (1.8.1988) by S.I. 1988/1389, reg. 2, and different sums substituted for different cases: (17.12.1988) by S.I. 1988/2288, reg. 2; (10.1.1994) by S.I. 1993/3187, regs. 3, 4 (as amended (1.5.2007) by S.I. 2007/248, reg. 4)

F5 S. 10(3)(aa) inserted (30.7.2007) by Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 (asp 5), ss. 67(4)(b)(i), 82(2) (with s. 77); S.S.I. 2007/335, art. 2(a)

F6 S. 10(3)(ba) inserted (30.7.2007) by Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 (asp 5), ss. 67(4)(b)(ii), 82(2) (with s. 77); S.S.I. 2007/335, art. 2(a)

F7 S. 10(4)(5) inserted (8.2.2007) by Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 (asp 5), ss. 69(4), 82(2) (with s. 77); S.S.I. 2007/57, art. 2(a)

Modifications etc. (not altering text)

C1 Pt. II (ss. 6–12) applied by S.I. 1988/2290, reg. 3