The Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria and Information about Financial Resources) (Amendment) Regulations 2015

Made9th December 2015

Coming into force in accordance with regulation 1

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 11(1)(b), 22(3)(f) and 41(1)(a) and (b) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 20121 (“the Act”), makes the following Regulations.

In making these Regulations, in accordance with section 11(2) to (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 set out in section 11(3) of the Act;

has sought to secure that, in cases in which more than one form of civil legal service could be provided for an individual, the individual qualifies under Part 1 of the Act for the form of service which in all the circumstances is most appropriate having regard to the criteria, 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.

A draft of this instrument has been laid before Parliament and approved by resolution of each House of Parliament in accordance with section 41(6) of the Act.

Citation and commencement1

1

These Regulations may be cited as the Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria and Information about Financial Resources) (Amendment) Regulations 2015.

2

These Regulations come into force on the day after the day on which they are made.

Amendments to the Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 20132

1

The Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 20132 are amended as follows.

2

In regulation 2 (interpretation)3, in the definition of “private law children case”—

a

at the end of paragraph (b)(i), omit “or”, and

b

after paragraph (b)(ii) insert—

iii
section 51A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (post-adoption contact orders)4; or

3

In regulation 69 (criteria for determinations for full representation in relation to other family cases to which specific merits criteria apply)5, after paragraph (4)(a)(ii) insert—

or
iii
to section 51A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (post-adoption contact orders);

Amendment to the Legal Aid (Information about Financial Resources) Regulations 20133

In paragraph 23 of the Schedule to the Legal Aid (Information about Financial Resources) Regulations 20136, after “regulations made under” insert “section 17A of the Children Act 19897, section 49(3) of the Children and Families Act 2014 (personal budgets and direct payments)8,”.

Shailesh VaraParliamentary Under Secretary of StateMinistry of Justice9th December 2015

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/104) (“the Merits Criteria Regulations”), which make provision for the criteria which the Director of Legal Aid Casework must apply when determining whether an individual or legal person qualifies for civil legal services under Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10) (“the Act”).

Regulation 2(2) of these Regulations amends the definition of “private law children case” set out in regulation 2 of the Merits Criteria Regulations to provide that it includes matters described in paragraph 12 (victims of domestic violence and family matters) of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act which relate to orders regarding post-adoption contact under section 51A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002 (c. 38).

Regulation 2(3) of these Regulations amends regulation 69 of the Merits Criteria Regulations to provide that a relevant determination for the purpose of regulation 69 does not include a determination in relation to matters described in paragraph 12 (victims of domestic violence and family matters) of Part 1 of Schedule 1 to the Act which relate to orders under section 51A of the Adoption and Children Act 2002.

Regulation 3 of these Regulations amends the Legal Aid (Information about Financial Resources) Regulations 2013 (S.I 2013/628) to prescribe information about direct payments made under regulations made under section 17A of the Children Act 1989 (c. 41) and section 49(3) of the Children and Families Act 2014 (c. 6). This permits requests for information about an individual’s receipt of those direct payments to be made for the purposes of the Director assessing an individual’s financial resources.

A full impact assessment has not been produced for this instrument as no impact on the private or voluntary sector is foreseen.