# Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981, Article 20: Accounts and audit

Extent: N.I.

(1) The Law Society shall keep such accounts with respect to the legal aid fund as the Lord Chancellor may with the approval of the Treasury direct, and shall prepare in respect of each financial year a statement of accounts in such form as may be so directed.
(2) The accounts shall be audited by persons to be appointed in respect of each financial year by the Lord Chancellor and in accordance with a scheme of audit approved by the Lord Chancellor, and the auditors shall be furnished by the Law Society with copies of the said statement and shall report to the Lord Chancellor on the accounts and the said statement.
(3) A person shall not be appointed as an auditor in pursuance of paragraph (2) unless he is eligible for appointment as a statutory auditor under Part 42 of the Companies Act 2006.
(4) As soon as the accounts have been audited, the auditors shall send to the Lord Chancellor copies of the statement of accounts and of their report, and the Lord Chancellor shall send a copy of the statement and of the report to the Comptroller and Auditor-General.
(5) The Comptroller and Auditor-General—
(a) shall examine every statement and report sent to him under paragraph (4);
(b) may inspect the accounts kept with respect to the legal aid fund and any records relating thereto; and
(c) shall certify every such statement and lay a copy of it together with his report thereon before Parliament.

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Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/nisi/1981/228/article/20 (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/legal-aid-advice-and-assistance-northern-ireland-order-1981/article-20
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.