topic 13 legal aid topic 13 legal aid. topic 13 legal aid introduction to legal aid 1.criminal and...
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Topic 13
Legal aid
Introduction to legal aid
1. Criminal and civil funding
2. Eligibility
3. Conditional fee arrangements
4. Types of help
Topic 13
Legal aid
Criminal and civil funding
Funding for legal help and advice is controlled by the Legal
Services Commission.
Topic 13
Legal aid
Criminal Defence Service
The Legal Services Commission is also responsible for
public funding in criminal cases and the majority of its
budget is spent here. As with civil funding, the LSC has set
up an organisation to administer criminal legal aid known
as the Criminal Defence Service.
Topic 13
Legal aid
Community Legal Service
The Community Legal Service (CLS) administers civil
advice and assistance, at a cost of £846 million in 2004/05.
Contracts are negotiated with firms of solicitors with the
relevant expertise and the firms are then paid on a
monthly basis. Only those firms of solicitors with a contract
can carry out publicly funded work. To get a contract, the
firm of solicitors will need to have a ‘quality mark’, which is
only awarded after inspection by the CLS.
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Legal aid
Civil legal aid
The Community Legal Service provides a number of
different types of help in civil matters:
• legal help
• help at court
• approved family help
• legal representation
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Legal aid
Legal help
The Community Legal Service provides those that are
eligible with up to 2 hours of advice and assistance with
any legal problem.
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Legal aid
Help at court
The Community Legal Service allows an eligible party to
have a solicitor or advisor to speak for them at a court
hearing.
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Legal aid
Approved family help
In family cases, Community Legal Service is available to
assist in resolving disputes, often using mediation.
Mediation is a type of dispute resolution that helps parties
to reach an agreement. Advice and assistance are
available for those attending family mediation or for those
who are not attending mediation but who require general
help.
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Legal aid
Legal representation
This service allows representation in court for both
claimants and defendants. Two different types of
assistance are available:
• Investigative help allows the strength of a claim to be
assessed.
• Full representation covers legal representation in court
proceedings.
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Legal aid
Eligibility
To qualify for some types of civil legal aid, certain
conditions must be met and the applicant must not exceed
certain financial limits.
Topic 13
Legal aid
Legal help, help at court and legal representation
Assistance will only be given if there is a benefit to the
client and it is reasonable for the matter to be funded.
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Legal aid
Financial limits• Monthly income must not exceed £2,288.
• Disposable income: if a person’s income is less than £2,288, he or
she must have a disposable income of less than £632. A partner’s
income can also be taken into account. For the Legal Representation
Scheme, a contribution will have to be made by anyone with a
disposable income between £232 and the £632 limit.
• Capital, e.g. savings, stocks and bonds, must be under £8,000.
A contribution may be required from those with between £3,000 and
£8,000.
• Benefits: those in receipt of income-based Job Seeker’s Allowance
will qualify automatically.
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Legal aid
Conditional fee agreements
Following the Access to Justice Act 1999, some cases which
previously qualified for legal aid are no longer eligible for public
funding.
Personal injury cases fall into this category, and those who wish to
make such a claim have to find alternative means of funding it.
Potential claimants with enough money can fund the cases
themselves, but this is prohibitively expensive for many, who seek
an alternative. To meet this need, conditional fee agreements (CFAs)
are heavily promoted by solicitors and personal injury firms.
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Legal aid
Criminal legal aid
• advice and assistance
• police station advice and assistance
• advocacy assistance
• representation
• duty solicitors
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Legal aid
Advice and assistance
The Criminal Defence Service funds help from a solicitor,
including:
• giving general advice
• writing letters
• negotiating
• getting a barrister’s opinion
There is a means test, and a client is not eligible if his or
her disposable income exceeds £1,000 a month.
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Legal aid
Police station advice and assistance
Anyone questioned over an offence — whether arrested or
not — can get free legal advice from a contracted solicitor.
This type of help is not means tested. The person involved
can choose between the duty solicitor, a solicitor from the
police list or his or her own solicitor if he or she has one.
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Legal aid
Advocacy assistance
This provides the cost of a solicitor preparing a case and
initial representation in certain proceedings in the
Magistrates’ and Crown Courts. It also covers
representation for defendants who have not paid a civil
fine or those who have breached a civil court order and are
at risk of imprisonment. Such assistance is subject to a
merits test but there is no means test.
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Legal aid
Representation
Those summoned for or charged with a criminal offence
can apply for funding to cover the cost of a solicitor to
prepare a defence and for representation in court. If a
barrister is needed, these costs will also be met. If
necessary, advice regarding an appeal is also covered.