The Civil Legal Services (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019

Statutory Rules of Northern Ireland

2019 No. 13

Access To Justice

The Civil Legal Services (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019

Made

11th February 2019

Coming into operation

4th March 2019

The Department of Justice makes the following Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 15 of the Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003(1) and now vested in it(2).

Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Civil Legal Services (General) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2019 and shall come into operation on 4th March 2019.

Amendments to the Civil Legal Services (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015

2.  The Civil Legal Services (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015(3) are amended as follows.

3.  In regulation 2, for the definition of “assessing authority”, substitute—

““assessing authority” means—

(a)

in respect of advice and assistance and representation (lower courts), the supplier,

(b)

in respect of representation (higher courts) and exceptional funding, the Director;”.

4.  In regulation 15(10), for “an assessing authority to re-determine”, substitute “a re-determination of”.

5.  In regulation 17(6), for “without reference to an assessing authority”, substitute “without reference to a determination in respect of an applicant’s disposable income or capital”.

6.  In regulation 41—

(a)in sub-paragraph (3), omit “or an assessing authority”; and

(b)in sub-paragraph (4), omit “or an assessing authority”.

7.  In regulation 42(1), omit “submit so much of the application as is relevant to an assessing authority to”.

8.  In regulation 49—

(a)in sub-paragraph (2), omit “or an assessing authority”; and

(b)in sub-paragraph (3), omit “or an assessing authority”.

9.  In regulation 50(1), omit “submit so much of the application as is relevant to an assessing authority to”.

Sealed with the Official Seal of the Department of Justice on 11th February 2019

Legal seal

Peter May

A senior officer of the Department of Justice

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Civil Legal Services (General) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2015. The purpose of these amending Regulations is to make technical amendments to allow for financial eligibility assessments in respect of certain applications for civil legal aid to be carried out by the Director of Legal Aid Casework in place of a person appointed by the Department for Communities. The Regulations come into operation on 4th March 2019.

(1)

S.I. 2003/435 (N.I. 10). Article 15 of the 2003 Order was substituted by section 6 of, and paragraph 6(16) of Schedule 2 to, the Legal Aid and Coroners’ Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 2014.