Explanatory note

Section 1(3) of the Access to Justice Act 1999 provides that the Legal Services Commission (‘the Commission’), which administers civil and criminal legal aid services in England and Wales, must consist of not fewer than seven members and not more than twelve members. Section 1(3) provides that the Lord Chancellor may substitute for either or both of these numbers such other numbers as he thinks appropriate.

This Order reduces the minimum number of members of the Commission from seven to four and reduces the maximum number from twelve to six.