Legal Aid Act 1988

Part I Preliminary

1 Purpose of this Act.

2 Interpretation.

Part II Legal Aid Board and Legal Aid

3 The Legal Aid Board.

4 Powers of the Board.

5 Duties of the Board.

6 Board to have separate legal aid fund.

7 Accounts and audit.

Part III Advice and Assistance

8 Scope of this Part.

9 Availability of, and payment for, advice and assistance.

10 Financial limit on prospective cost of advice or assistance.

11 Payment for advice or assistance otherwise than through legally assisted person’s contribution.

12 Limit on costs against person receiving assistance by way of representation.

13 Costs of successful unassisted parties.

Part IIIA Mediation

13A Scope of this Part.

13BProvision and availability of mediation.

13CPayment for mediation under this Part.

Part IV Civil Legal Aid

14 Scope of this Part.

15 Availability of, and payment for, representation under this Part.

16 Reimbursement of Board by contributions and out of costs or property recovered.

17 Limit on costs against assisted party.

18 Costs of successful unassisted parties.

Part V Criminal Legal Aid

19 Scope of this Part.

20 Competent authorities to grant representation under this Part.

21 Availability of representation under this Part.

22 Criteria for grant of representation for trial proceedings.

23 Reimbursement of public funds by contributions.

24 Contribution orders: supplementary.

25 Payment of costs of representation under this Part.

26 Payment for advice or assistance where representation under this Part is subsequently granted.

Part VI Legal Aid in Special Cases

Care proceedings

27 Representation in care proceedings: scope and competent authorities.

28 Care proceedings: availability.

Contempt proceedings

29 Representation in contempt proceedings.

30 Supplementary.

Part VII General and Supplementary

31 Act not generally to affect position of legal representatives or other parties.

32 Selection and assignment of legal representatives.

33 Legal aid complaints against barristers and their exclusion from legal aid work.

34 Regulations.

35 Advisory Committee.

36 Orders and regulations: general.

37 Laying of Board’s annual reports before Parliament.

38 Restriction of disclosure of information.

39 Proceedings for misrepresentation etc.

40 Adaptation of rights of indemnity in cases of advice, assistance or representation in civil proceedings.

41 Application to Crown.

43 Definitions.

Part VIII Miscellaneous

Scottish provisions

44 Scottish provisions.

45 Amendments, repeals and transitional provisions.

46 Amendments of Legal Aid Act 1974 pending repeal.

47 Short title, commencement and extent.

SCHEDULE 1 The Legal Aid Board

Incorporation and Status

1The Board shall be a body corporate.

2The Board shall not be regarded as the servant or...

Tenure of Members

3Subject to paragraphs 4 and 5 any member of the...

4(1) The chairman or a member may resign office by...

5The Lord Chancellor may terminate the appointment of a member...

Members’ interests

6(1) Before appointing a person to be a member of...

7(1) A member of the Board who is in any...

Remuneration of members

8(1) The Board may— (a) pay to its members such...

9(1) The Board shall appoint a person to be the...

10(1) The Board shall make, in respect of such of...

11(1) Subject to anything in regulations, the Board may regulate...

12(1) The fixing of the seal of the Board shall...

13The Board may pay to the members of any committee...

SCHEDULE 2 Civil Proceedings: Scope of Part IV Representation

Part I Description of Proceedings

1Proceedings in, or before any person to whom a case...

2The following proceedings in a magistrates’ court, namely—

3Proceedings in the Employment Appeal Tribunal.

4Proceedings in the Lands Tribunal.

5Proceedings before a Commons Commissioner appointed under section 17(1) of...

6Proceedings in the Restrictive Practices Court under Part III of...

Part II Excepted proceedings

1Proceedings wholly or partly in respect of defamation, but so...

2Relator actions.

3Proceedings for the recovery of a penalty where the proceedings...

4Election petitions under the Representation of the People Act 1983....

5In a county court, proceedings for or consequent on the...

5AProceedings for a decree of divorce or judicial separation unless...

5BProceedings to the extent that they consist in, or arise...

6Proceedings incidental to any proceedings excepted by this Part of...

SCHEDULE 3 Criminal proceedings: Enforcement of Contribution Orders

Part I Orders made by a court

Collecting court

1In this Part “collecting court ”, in relation to a...

Enforcement proceedings

2(1) Any sum required to be paid by a contribution...

3(1) Without prejudice to paragraph 2, any sum required to...

4(1) Any expenses incurred by the clerk of a magistrates’...

Transfer of enforcement proceedings to different court

5(1) Where in relation to any contribution order it appears...

Limitations on enforcement by proceedings

6Any sum due under a contribution order shall not be...

7Where a contribution order has been made in respect of...

Power to defer enforcement proceedings

8The collecting court may defer recovering any sum due under...

9In this Part— (a) “relevant grant of representation ”, in...

Part II Orders made by the Board

Limitations on enforcement by proceedings

10(1) Any sum due under a contribution order shall not...

11Where a contribution order has been made in respect of...

SCHEDULE 4 Amendments of Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 (c. 47)

Part IDirect payment of fees and outlays by legally assisted person

1In section 4(2) (payments out of the Scottish Legal Aid...

2In section 16— (a) subsection (1) is repealed;

3In section 17 (contributions, etc.)— (a) in subsection (1), for...

4In section 32 (a) (restriction on payment etc.), the words...

5In section 33 (fees and outlays of solicitors and counsel)...

6In section 36(2) (regulations), in paragraph (b) at end add—...

Part IILiability of legally assisted person for expenses to be assessed in all cases

7In section 18 (expenses)— (a) subsection (1) is repealed;

8In section 19(1) (expenses out of the Fund), for the...

9In section 20(1) (supplementary), for the words “sections 18 and...

Part IIIBoard’s property to be rateable

10In Schedule 1, paragraph 2(4) is repealed.

SCHEDULE 5 Minor and Consequential Amendments

Public Records Act 1958 (c. 51)

1In Schedule 1 to the Public Records Act 1958 (definition...

Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (c. 13)

2In Schedule 2 to the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 (which...

Attachment of Earnings Act 1971 (c. 32)

3In section 25(1) of the Attachment of Earnings Act 1971,...

House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 (c. 24)

4In Part III of Schedule 1 to the House of...

Northern Ireland Assembly Disqualification Act 1975 (c. 25)

5In Part III of Schedule 1 to the Northern Ireland...

Sex Discrimination Act 1975 (c. 65)

6In section 75(4) of the Sex Discrimination Act 1975—

Race Relations Act 1976 (c. 74)

7In section 66(6) of the Race Relations Act 1976—

Child Care Act 1980 (c. 5)

8In section 21A of the Child Care Act 1980, after...

Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (c. 43)

9In section 92(1)(b) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980, for...

Supreme Court Act 1981 (c. 54)

10In section 47(7) of the Supreme Court Act 1981, for...

Telecommunications Act 1984 (c. 12)

11In section 52 of the Telecommunications Act 1984, the following...

Prosecution of Offences Act 1985 (c. 23)

12In section 19(2)(b) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1985,...

13In section 20(2) of that Act, for the words “out...

14In section 21(1) of that Act, for the definition of...

15In section 21 of that Act, after subsection (4), there...

Child Abduction and Custody Act 1985 (c. 60)

16In section 11 of the Child Abduction and Custody Act...

Administration of Justice Act 1985 (c. 61)

17In section 40 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985...

18In section 43 of that Act (jurisdiction and powers of...

19In section 44 of that Act— (a) in subsection (3),...

Housing Act 1985 (c. 68)

20In section 170(5) of the Housing Act 1985—

Family Law Act 1986 (c. 55)

21Section 64 of the Family Law Act 1986 (family proceedings...

Criminal Justice Act 1987 (c. 38)

22In section 4(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1987, for...

SCHEDULE 6 Repeals

SCHEDULE 7 Transition

1In this Schedule— “the 1974 Act ” means the Legal...

The Legal Aid Fund

2(1) On the appointed day the legal aid fund (“the...

Rights, obligations and property

3(1) Subject to paragraph 2, on the appointed day all...

Transfer of functions

4(1) Any grant of legal aid under Part I of...

Legal aid contribution orders

5Notwithstanding their repeal by this Act, the provisions of the...

The Board: transfers of employment

6(1) The Board shall make, not later than such date...

7(1) Where a person becomes an employee of the Board...

8(1) Any dispute as to whether an offer purporting to...

9(1) In the event of the Board assuming under section...

10Any arrangements made by the Law Society under section 19...

Representation in affiliation proceedings: transitory provision

11Until the repeal of the Affiliation Proceedings Act 1957 by...

SCHEDULE 8 Transitory Amendments of Legal Aid Act 1974

1In this Schedule “the 1974 Act ” means the Legal...

Regulation of charges on property

2In section 20(2)(e) of the 1974 Act (regulation of charge...

3In section 39 of the 1974 Act, for subsection (3)...

4(1) In Schedule 2 to the 1974 Act (remuneration in...

Royal arms

Legal Aid Act 1988

1988 CHAPTER 34

An Act to make new provision for the administration of, and to revise the law relating to, legal aid, advice and assistance.

[29th July 1988]

Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—