Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

Mediation in family disputes E+W

14 (1) Mediation provided in relation to family disputes. E+W

(2) Civil legal services provided in connection with the mediation of family disputes.

Exclusions

(3) Sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) are subject to the exclusions in Part 2 of this Schedule, with the exception of paragraph 11 of that Part.

(4) But the exclusions described in sub-paragraph (3) are subject to the exception in sub-paragraph (5).

(5) The services described in sub-paragraph (2) include services provided in relation to conveyancing, but only where—

(a) the services in relation to conveyancing are provided in the course of giving effect to arrangements for the resolution of a family dispute, and

(b) services described in that sub-paragraph or sub-paragraph (1) (other than services in relation to conveyancing) are being or have been provided in relation to the dispute under arrangements made for the purposes of this Part of this Act.

(6) Sub-paragraphs (1) and (2) are subject to the exclusion in Part 3 of this Schedule.

Definitions

(7) For the purposes of this paragraph—

(a) a dispute is a family dispute if it is a dispute between individuals about a matter arising out of a family relationship between the individuals,

(b) there is a family relationship between two individuals if they are associated with each other, and

(c) “associated” has the same meaning as in Part 4 of the Family Law Act 1996 (see section 62 of that Act).

(8) For the purposes of this paragraph—

(a) matters arising out of a family relationship include matters arising under a family enactment, and

(b) (subject to paragraph (a)) the Lord Chancellor may by regulations make provision about when matters arise out of a family relationship.

(9) In this paragraph—

• “child” means a person under the age of 18;

• “family enactment” has the meaning given in paragraph 12.