2000 No. 2227
LEGAL AID AND ADVICE, ENGLAND AND WALES

The Legal Aid Act 1988 (Modification) Regulations 2000

Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 34 and 43 of the Legal Aid Act 19881, and with the consent of the Treasury, hereby makes the following Regulations:—

Citation and commencement1.

These Regulations may be cited as the Legal Aid Act 1988 (Modification) Regulations 2000 and shall come into force on 2nd October 2000.

Interpretation2.

In these Regulations—

“the Act” means the Legal Aid Act 1988;

any reference to a section by number alone means the section so numbered in the Act;

any reference to a person appearing or being brought before a magistrates' court includes a person appearing or being brought before a justices' clerk acting under section 50 of the Crime and Disorder Act 19982 (early administrative hearings).

Transitional provisions3.

These Regulations shall apply to applications for legal aid made on or after 2nd October 2000, and any application for legal aid made before that date shall be treated as if these Regulations had not come into force.

Modfications to the Legal Aid Act 19884.

(1)

For the purposes of the application of the Act in the circumstances set out in paragraph (2) or (3) below, the Act shall have effect as if the following provisions were omitted:—

(a)

in section 21(2), the words “Subject to subsection (5) below,”;

(b)

section 21(5) and (6);

(c)

sections 23 and 24;

(d)

section 26(3).

(2)

The circumstances in this paragraph exist where:—

(a)

a person who has been charged with an offence at a police station appears or is brought before a magistrates' court;

(b)

that court is considering the grant of representation under Part V of the Act, for that or another offence; and

(c)

the proposed representation does not relate to—

(i)

an offence triable only on indictment; or

(ii)

any other offence for which he will be sent to the Crown Court for trial under section 51 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.

(3)

The circumstances in this paragraph exist where a person appears or is brought before a youth court.

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

David Lock
Parliamentary Secretary
Lord Chancellor’s Department

We consent

Jim Dowd
Bob Ainsworth
Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury
(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations modify the Legal Aid Act 1988 so that, where a person appears before a magistrates' court following charge at a police station, criminal legal aid is available to that person without reference to financial resources, and without the need for a statement of means or a contribution to the costs of representation. This modification does not extend to cases where the court sends a person to the Crown Court for trial under the procedure for offences triable only on indictment.