F1PART IILEGAL ADVICE AND ASSISTANCE, AND LEGAL AID OTHER THAN FREE LEGAL AID AVAILABLE UNDER PART III
Costs of successful unassisted parties
Power to award costs out of the legal aid fund16
1
Where a person receives legal aid in connection with any proceedings between him and a person not receiving legal aid (in this Article and Article 17 referred to as “the unassisted party”) and those proceedings are finally decided in favour of the unassisted party, the court by which the proceedings are so decided may, subject to the provisions of this Article, make an order for the payment to the unassisted party out of the legal aid fund of the whole or any part of the costs incurred by him in those proceedings.
2
An order may be made under this Article in respect of costs if (and only if) the court is satisfied that it is just and equitable in all the circumstances that provision for those costs should be made out of public funds; and before making such an order the court shall in every case (whether or not application is made in that behalf) consider what orders should be made for costs against the person receiving legal aid and for determining his liability in respect of such costs.
3
Without prejudice to paragraph (2), an order shall not be made under this Article in respect of costs incurred in a court of first instance, whether by that court or by any appellate court, unless—
a
the proceedings in the court of first instance were instituted by the party receiving legal aid; and
b
the court is satisfied that the unassisted party will suffer severe financial hardship unless the order is made.
4
An order under this Article shall not be made by any court in respect of costs incurred by the unassisted party in any proceedings in which, apart from this Article, an order would not be made for the payment of his costs.
5
Without prejudice to any other provision restricting appeals from any court, no appeal shall lie against an order under this Article, or a refusal to make such an order, except on a point of law.
6
In this Article “costs” means costs as between party and party; but the costs in respect of which an order may be made under this Article include the costs of applying for that order.
7
References in this Article and Article 17 to legal aid include references to assistance by way of representation.
Pt. 2 (to the extent that it remains in operation) repealed (1.4.2015) by Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/435), arts. 1(2), 49(5), Sch. 5 (with transitional provisions and savings in art. 48, Sch. 3); S.R. 2015/194, art. 2, Sch. (with transitional provisions and savings in art. 3)