Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003

Services which may be funded N.I.

12.—(1) The [F1 Department] shall set priorities in its funding of civil legal services, and the priorities shall be set—

F2 (a) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b) after taking into account the need for such services.

(2) The [F3 Department] may fund civil legal services by—

(a) entering into contracts with persons or bodies for the provision of services by them,

(b) making payments to persons or bodies in respect of the provision of services by them,

(c) making grants or loans to persons or bodies to enable them to provide, or facilitate the provision of, services,

(d) establishing and maintaining bodies to provide, or facilitate the provision of, services,

(e) making grants or loans to individuals to enable them to obtain services,

(f) itself providing services, or

(g) doing anything else which it considers appropriate for funding services,

but this paragraph is subject to Article 41.

[F4 (3) The Department may by order make provision about the payment of remuneration by the Department to persons who provide civil legal services.]

(4) The [F5 Department] may fund different civil legal services, or civil legal services provided by different means—

(a) in relation to different areas in Northern Ireland, and

(b) in relation to different descriptions of cases.

(5) [F6 Except as provided by Article 12A, the Department] may not fund as civil legal services any of the services specified in Schedule 2.

(6) Regulations may amend Schedule 2 by adding new services or omitting or varying any services; and regulations under this paragraph may, in particular, describe the services which are not to be funded as civil legal services by reference to—

(a) the court or tribunal before which proceedings are to take place,

(b) the issues involved, or

(c) the capacity in which a person seeking a service is concerned.

(7) If the effect of regulations amending Schedule 2 under paragraph (6) is that no advice or assistance of any description is to be funded as regards any area, then, so long as Schedule 2 so provides, Article 14(2)(b), 3(b), (6) and (7), and the words “advice, assistance and” in Article 10(1), shall not have effect.

Paras. (8)-(11) rep. by 2005 NI 19

F1 Word in art. 12(1) substituted (18.11.2014) by Legal Aid and Coroners‘ Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 (c. 11), s. 12(2)(d)(ii), Sch. 2 para. 6(12)(a) (with ss. 2(3), 9, Sch. 1 para. 3(3)) (but this amendment cannot take effect until the commencement of S.I. 2003/435, art. 12)

F2 Art. 12(1)(a) repealed (18.11.2014) by Legal Aid and Coroners‘ Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 (c. 11), s. 12(2)(d)(ii), Sch. 2 para. 6(12)(a), Sch. 3 Pt. 1 (with ss. 2(3), 9, Sch. 1 para. 3(3)) (but this amendment cannot take effect until the commencement of S.I. 2003/435, art. 12)

F3 Word in art. 12(2) substituted (18.11.2014) by Legal Aid and Coroners‘ Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 (c. 11), s. 12(2)(d)(ii), Sch. 2 para. 6(12)(b) (with ss. 2(3), 9, Sch. 1 para. 3(3)) (but this amendment cannot take effect until the commencement of S.I. 2003/435, art. 12)

F4 Art. 12(3) substituted (18.11.2014) by Legal Aid and Coroners‘ Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 (c. 11), s. 12(2)(d)(ii), Sch. 2 para. 6(12)(c) (with ss. 2(3), 9, Sch. 1 para. 3(3)) (but this amendment cannot take effect until the commencement of S.I. 2003/435, art. 12)

F5 Word in art. 12(4) substituted (18.11.2014) by Legal Aid and Coroners‘ Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 (c. 11), s. 12(2)(d)(ii), Sch. 2 para. 6(12)(d) (with ss. 2(3), 9, Sch. 1 para. 3(3)) (but this amendment cannot take effect until the commencement of S.I. 2003/435, art. 12)

F6 Words in art. 12(5) substituted (18.11.2014) by Legal Aid and Coroners‘ Courts Act (Northern Ireland) 2014 (c. 11), s. 12(2)(d)(ii), Sch. 2 para. 6(12)(e) (with ss. 2(3), 9, Sch. 1 para. 3(3)) (but this amendment cannot take effect until the commencement of S.I. 2003/435, art. 12)

Commencement Information

I1 Art. 12(1)-(7) in operation at 1.4.2015 by S.R. 2015/194, art. 2, Sch. (with art. 3)