# Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2002, Article 2: Interpretation


(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954 shall apply to Article 1 and the following provisions of this Order as it applies to an Act of the Northern Ireland Assembly.
(2) In this Order—
“advice” means any oral or written advice—
(a) on the application of the law to any particular circumstances that have arisen in relation to the individual seeking the advice; and
(b) as to any steps which that person might appropriately take, having regard to the application of the law to those circumstances;
“assistance” means any assistance (other than advocacy) to any individual in taking any of the steps which an individual might take, including steps with respect to proceedings, having regard to the application of the law to any particular circumstances that have arisen in relation to him, whether the assistance is given by taking such steps on his behalf or by assisting him in taking them on his own behalf;
“civil legal services” has the meaning given by Article 10(1);
“the Commission” means the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission;
“criminal defence services” has the meaning given by Article 21(1);
“the Law Society” means the Law Society of Northern Ireland;
“magistrates' court” has the meaning assigned to that expression by Article 2(2)(b) of the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981;
“prescribed” means prescribed by regulations;
“regulations” means regulations made by the Lord Chancellor;
“relevant proceedings” has the meaning given by Article 25;
“representation” means representation for the purposes of proceedings and it includes—
(a) all such assistance as is usually given by a solicitor or counsel in the steps preliminary or incidental to any proceedings;
(b) in the case of civil proceedings, all such assistance as is usually so given in arriving at or giving effect to a compromise to avoid or bring to an end any proceedings;
“solicitor” means a solicitor of the Supreme Court;
“statutory provision” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1(f) of the Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) 1954;
“tribunal” includes an inquiry or proceedings before an arbitrator or umpire, however appointed, whether such inquiry or proceedings take place under a reference by consent or otherwise.
(3) References to counsel and solicitors shall be construed in accordance with Article 10 of the European Communities (Services of Lawyers) Order 1978 and regulation 14 of the European Communities (Lawyer’s Practice) Regulations 2000.
(4) In this Order “criminal proceedings” means—
(a) proceedings before any court for dealing with an individual accused of an offence,
(b) proceedings before any court, or the Life Sentence Review Commissioners, for dealing with an individual convicted of an offence (including proceedings in respect of a sentence or order),
(c) proceedings for dealing with an individual under section 9 of, or paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 to, the Extradition Act 1989,
(d) proceedings for binding an individual over to keep the peace or to be of good behaviour under Article 127 of the Magistrates' Courts (Northern Ireland) Order 1981, and for dealing with an individual who fails to comply with an order under that Article,
(e) proceedings on an appeal brought by an individual under section 47A of the Criminal Appeal (Northern Ireland) Act 1980,
(f) proceedings for contempt committed, or alleged to have been committed, by an individual in the face of a court,
(g) such other proceedings concerning an individual, before any such court or other body, as may be prescribed,
but does not include any proceedings for a writ of habeas corpus or other prerogative remedy.
(5) In this Order “detention proceedings” means proceedings for dealing with an individual in respect of whom an application has been made under—
(a) article 44 or 45 of the Police and Criminal Evidence (Northern Ireland) Order 1989, or
(b) paragraph 29 or 36 of Schedule 8 to the Terrorism Act 2000.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukdsi/2002/0337377924/article/2 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/draft-access-to-justice-northern-ireland-order-2002/article-2
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.