Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981

[F1 Assessment of disposable capital and income and of maximum contribution N.I.

14.— (1) References in this Part to a person's disposable income or disposable capital shall be taken as referring to the rate of his income or amount of his capital after making—

(a) such deductions as may be prescribed in respect of—

(i) the maintenance of dependants;

(ii) interest on loans;

(iii) income tax;

(iv) rates;

(v) rent; and

(vi) other matters for which the person in question must or reasonably may provide; and

(b) such further allowances as may be prescribed to take account of the nature of his resources.

(2) Regulations may make provision as to the manner in which the rate of a person's income and the amount of his capital are to be computed for the purposes of paragraph (1), and in particular for—

(a) determining whether any resources are to be treated as income or capital; and

(b) taking into account fluctuations of income.

(3) The regulations shall include provisions for securing that the resources of a person seeking or receiving legal aid, advice or assistance shall be treated as not including the subject matter of the dispute.

(4) Except in so far as the regulations otherwise provide, any resources of a person's[F2 spouse or civil partner] shall be treated for the purposes of this Article as that person's resources, and the regulations may also make provision, in relation to minors and any other special cases, for taking into account the resources of other persons.

(5) The regulations may also include, in relation to advice and assistance, provision as to the cases in which a person is for the purposes of Articles 3 and 7 to be taken to be (directly or indirectly) in receipt of[F3 income support[F4 , an income-based jobseeker's allowance (payable under the Jobseekers (Northern Ireland) Order 1995) or an income-related allowance under Part 1 of the Welfare Reform Act (Northern Ireland) 2007 (employment and support allowance)[F5 or a guarantee credit under the State Pension Credit Act (Northern Ireland) 2002].]]

(6) Subject to the provisions of this Article, the disposable income and disposable capital of a person applying for legal aid, and the maximum amount of his contribution to the legal aid fund in respect of any proceedings, shall be determined in accordance with regulations.

(7) Regulations for the purposes of this Article shall be made with the concurrence of the [F6 Department of Finance and Personnel].]

F1 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)

F2 2004 c. 33

F3 1986 NI 18

F4 Words in art. 14(5) substituted (27.10.2008) by Employment and Support Allowance (Consequential Provisions No. 2) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2008 (S.R. 2008/412), reg. 2(4)

F5 Words in art. 14(5) added (7.1.2013) by Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2011 (c. 24), ss. 82(4), 111(3); S.R. 2012/449, art. 2(a)

F6 Words in art. 14(7) substituted (18.10.2012) by The Northern Ireland Act 1998 (Devolution of Policing and Justice Functions) Order 2012 (S.I. 2012/2595), arts. 1(2), 5 (with arts. 24-28)