The Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013

PART 1 Interpretation and General

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013 and come into force on 1st April 2013.

Interpretation

2.—(1) In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012;

“application” means an application for a determination in respect of civil legal services made in accordance with the Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations 2012(1);

“certificate” means a certificate issued under the Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations 2012;

“child” means an individual under the age of 18;

“CPR” means the Civil Procedure Rules 1998(2) and a reference to a Part or a rule, prefixed by “CPR”, means the Part or rule so numbered in the CPR;

“disposable income” and “disposable capital” mean, respectively, the income and capital of the individual, calculated in accordance with regulations 21 to 43;

“Independent Living Fund (2006)” means the Trust of that name established by a deed dated 10th April 2006 and made between the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of the one part and Margaret Rosemary Cooper, Michael Beresford Boyall and Marie Theresa Martin of the other part;

“multi-party action” means proceedings in which a number of individuals have a cause of action which involves common or related issues of fact or law;

“partner”, except in the expression “partner in a business”, means—

(a)

an individual’s spouse or civil partner, from whom the individual is not separated due to a breakdown in the relationship which is likely to be permanent;

(b)

a person with whom the individual lives as a couple; or

(c)

a person with whom the individual ordinarily lives as a couple, from whom they are not separated due to a breakdown in the relationship which is likely to be permanent;

“provider” means a person who provides civil legal services under Part 1 of the Act (legal aid); and

“revocation” means the withdrawal of a determination in circumstances in which the Director has exercised the power to revoke the determination under the Civil Legal Aid (Procedure) Regulations 2012 (and “revoked” has the equivalent meaning).

(2) For the purposes of these Regulations, a case is of significant wider public interest if the Director is satisfied that the case is an appropriate case to realise—

(a) real benefits to the public at large, other than those which normally flow from cases of the type in question; and

(b) benefits for an identifiable class of individuals, other than the individual to whom civil legal services may be provided or members of that individual’s family.

(3) In paragraph (2), an individual is a member of another individual’s family if the requirements of section 10(6) of the Act are met.

(4) A reference in these Regulations to a form of civil legal services means—

(a) legal help;

(b) help at court;

(c) family help (lower);

(d) family help (higher);

(e) family mediation;

(f) help with family mediation;

(g) legal representation; and

(h) other legal services,

which are further defined in Part 2 of the Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 2013(3).

Delegation

3.  A function of the Director under these Regulations may be exercised by a person authorised for that purpose by the Director, or by an employee of that person(4).

(1)

S.I. 2012/3098.

(2)

S.I. 1998/3132. There have been numerous amendments, with the relevant Parts of the CPR consolidated, in amended form, in S.I. 2013/262.

(3)

S.I. 2013/104.

(4)

Section 6 of the Act (authorisations) makes provision for authorisations given for the purpose of section 5 of the Act (delegation) or regulations under that section.