The Legal Advice and Assistance (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 1999

• Citation: S.I. 1999/2575
• Sections: 8

Section 1 Citation and commencement

These Regulations may be cited as the Legal Advice and Assistance (Amendment) (No. 3) Regulations 1999 and shall come into force on 5th October 1999.

Section 2 Interpretation

In these Regulations a reference to any regulation or Schedule by number alone means the regulation or Schedule so numbered in the Legal Advice and Assistance Regulations 1989 .

Section 3 Transitional provisions

(1) These Regulations shall apply to applications for advice and assistance under regulation 9 made on or after 5th October 1999.

(2) Where a person at any time on or after 5th October 1999 receives family credit or disability working allowance under Part VII of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 in pursuance of a decision made before that date, his disposable income shall be assessed as if regulations 5 and 6 of these Regulations had not come into force.

Section 4 Amendments to the Legal Advice and Assistance Regulations 1989

(1) In regulation 10(1), for “Where” there shall be substituted “Subject to paragraph (5), where”.

(2) After regulation 10(4) there shall be inserted:

(5) A client may authorise another person to attend on the solicitor on his behalf in accordance with paragraph (1) only if, at the time when the authorisation is given, the client is either present in, or resides in, England and Wales.

Section 5 Amendments to the Legal Advice and Assistance Regulations 1989

In regulation 13(2), for “income support, income-based jobseeker’s allowance, family credit or disability working allowance” there shall be substituted “ any qualifying benefit”.

Section 6 Amendments to the Legal Advice and Assistance Regulations 1989

After regulation 13(2) there shall be inserted:–

(2A) The following are qualifying benefits for the purposes of paragraph (2) above:–

(a) income support;

(b) working families' tax credit, provided that the amount (if any) to be deducted under section 128(2)(b) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 has been determined at not more than £70 a week;

(c) disabled person’s tax credit, provided that the amount (if any) to be deducted under section 129(5)(b) of the Social Security Contributions and Benefits Act 1992 has been determined at not more than £70 a week; and

(d) income-based jobseeker’s allowance.

Section 7 Amendments to the Legal Advice and Assistance Regulations 1989

(1) Regulation 17 shall stand as paragraph (1) of regulation 17, and in that paragraph, after “provided that”, there shall be inserted “(subject to paragraph (2))”.

(2) After regulation 17(1) there shall be inserted:–

(2) Matters in relation to which the advice or assistance is mediation-related advice or assistance (as defined in regulation 32(1)) shall be treated as separate matters from those in relation to which the advice or assistance is not mediation-related advice or assistance.

Section 8 Amendments to the Legal Advice and Assistance Regulations 1989

(1) Regulation 32 shall stand as paragraph (1) of regulation 32 and there shall be inserted at the end of that paragraph “or in relation to the cost of giving mediation-related advice or assistance”.

(2) After regulation 32(1) there shall be inserted:

(2) In this regulation–

“mediation-related advice or assistance” means advice or assistance where:

the advice or assistance is given to a person who is a party to mediation in a dispute relating to family matters;

the subject matter of the advice or assistance forms all or part of the subject matter of the mediation; and

at the time when the advice or assistance was given, the mediation has not come to an end as regards the subject matter of the advice or assistance, provided that for the purposes of this sub-paragraph mediation, as regards any matter, shall not be taken to have come to an end by reason of the parties having reached agreement, unless and until the terms of that agreement are made binding on the parties, by way of a binding agreement, a consent order, or otherwise;

“family matters” has the meaning given in section 13A(2) of the Act ;

“mediation” has the meaning given in section 2(3A) of the Act .