The Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (General) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 1997

Statutory Instruments

1997 No. 2647

LEGAL AID AND ADVICE, ENGLAND AND WALES

The Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (General) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 1997

Made

3rd November 1997

Laid before Parliament

5th November 1997

Coming into force

1st December 1997

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 34 and 43 of the Legal Aid Act 1988(1), hereby makes the following Regulations:

Citation, commencement and transitional provision

1.—(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (General) (Amendment) (No. 4) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 1st December 1997.

(2) These Regulations apply where proceedings are discontinued or withdrawn on or after 1st December 1997.

Amendment of the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (General) Regulations 1989

2.  Regulation 35(1)(b) of the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (General) Regulations 1989(2) shall be amended by inserting at the end “or where the proceedings were discontinued or withdrawn”.

Irvine of Lairg, C

Dated 3rd November 1997

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Order)

These Regulations amend the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (General) Regulations 1989 by extending the circumstances in which a court may order a legal aid contribution to be remitted or repaid. At present the Regulations provide for this only where the assisted person has been acquitted. The amendment extends the circumstances to those where the proceedings against him have been discontinued or withdrawn.

(1)

1988 c. 34; section 34 was amended by the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41), Schedule 18, paragraph 63. Section 43 is an interpretation provision and is cited because of the meanings assigned to the words “prescribed” and “regulations”.

(2)

S.I. 1989/344; regulation 35 was substituted by S.I. 1993/789.