Article 3 Exemptions, reductions, remissions and refunds

(1)

No fee shall be payable under this Order by a party who, at the time when a fee would otherwise become payable—

(a)

is in receipt of—

(i)

legal advice and assistance under Part II or Part III of the Legal Aid Act 1988^f1 in connection with the matter to which the proceedings relate; or

(ii)

Legal Help as defined in, and provided in accordance with, the Funding Code in connection with the matter to which the proceedings relate;

(b)

is in receipt of any qualifying benefit and is not in receipt of either—

(i)

representation under Part IV of the Legal Aid Act 1988 for the purposes of the proceedings; or

(ii)

funding provided by the LSC for the purposes of the proceedings and for which a certificate has been issued under the Funding Code certifying a decision to fund services for that party; or

(c)

is not a beneficiary of a trust fund in court of a value of more than £50,000 and is—

(i)

under the age of eighteen; or

(ii)

a person for whose financial relief an order under paragraph 2 of Schedule 1 to the Children Act 1989^f2 is in force or is being applied for.

(2)

The following are qualifying benefits for the purposes of paragraph (1)(b)—

(a)

income support under the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992^f3;

(b)

working tax credit, provided that—

(i)

child tax credit is being paid to the party, or otherwise following a claim for child tax credit made jointly by the members of a married couple or an unmarried couple (as defined respectively in section 3(5) and (6) of the Tax Credits Act 2002^f4) which includes the party; or

(ii)

there is a disability element or severe disability element (or both) to the tax credit received by the party;

and that the gross annual income taken into account for the calculation of the working tax credit is £14,600 or less;

(c)

income-based jobseeker’s allowance under the Jobseekers Act 1995^f5; and

(d)

guarantee credit under the State Pension Credit Act 2002^f6.

Annotations

Footnotes

f1: 1988 c. 34. Parts II, III and IV were repealed by Part I of Schedule 15 to the Access to Justice Act 1999 (c. 22) from 1 April 2000 subject to the transitional and savings provisions in article 5 of the Access to Justice Act 1999 (Commencement No. 3, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order 2000 (S.I. 2000/774), in respect of an application for legal aid signed before 1 April 2000 and received by the Legal Aid Board by 2 May 2000.
f2: 1989 c. 41. Sub-paragraph (6)(b) was repealed by section 58(14) of the Child Support Act 1991 (c. 48).
f3: 1992 c. 4.
f4: 2002 c. 21.
f5: 1995 c. 18.
f6: 2002 c. 16.