2013 No. 772
The Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) (Amendment) Regulations 2013
Made
Coming into force
The Lord Chancellor makes the following Regulations1 in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 11(1)(b), 41(1)(a) and (3)(a) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 20122(“the Act”).
In making these Regulations, in accordance with section 11(2), (3) and (5) of the Act, the Lord Chancellor—
has considered the circumstances in which it is appropriate to make civil legal services available under Part 1 of the Act and, in particular, the extent to which the criteria ought to reflect the factors in section 11(3); and
is satisfied that the criteria reflect the principle that, in many disputes, mediation and other forms of dispute resolution are more appropriate than legal proceedings.
In accordance with section 41(6) of the Act, a draft of this instrument was laid before Parliament and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament.
Citation and commencement1
These Regulations may be cited as the Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 and come into force on 1st April 2013.
Amendment of the Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 20132
1
The Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 20133 are amended as follows.
2
In regulation 53 (standard criteria for determinations for legal representation in relation to public law claims), for sub-paragraph (b) substitute—
b
there are no alternative proceedings before a court or tribunal which are available to challenge the act, omission or other matter, except where the Director considers that such proceedings would not be effective in providing the remedy that the individual requires.
Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor
(This note is not part of the Regulations)