Legal Aid (Financial Resources) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 LEGAL AID (FINANCIAL RESOURCES) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2014

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Legal Aid (Financial Resources) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 LEGAL AID (FINANCIAL RESOURCES) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2014"

Edith Webb
5 years ago
Views:

1 Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 Index LEGAL AID (FINANCIAL RESOURCES) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2014 Index Regulation Page 1 Title Commenement Charge on property reovered or preserved Duty of advoate... 4 SCHEDULE 5 NEW SCHEDULE 1A TO THE LEGAL AID (FINANCIAL RESOURCES) REGULATIONS SD 2014/0281 Page 1

3 Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 Regulation 1 Statutory Doument No. 2014/0281 Legal Aid At 1986 LEGAL AID (FINANCIAL RESOURCES) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2014 Approved by Tynwald: 19 November 2014 Coming into Operation: 1 Deember 2014 The Legal Aid Committee makes the following Regulations under setions 3, 4, 16 and 27 of the Legal Aid At Title These Regulations are the Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations Commenement (1) Subjet to paragraph (2), these Regulations ome into operation on 1 Deember (2) Nothing in these Regulations applies to legal aid provided pursuant to an appliation made before the oming into operation of these Regulations. 3 Charge on property reovered or preserved (1) The Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) Regulations are amended as follows. (2) After regulation 9 insert «9A. Charge on property reovered or preserved (1) The sums speified in paragraph (2) shall be a first harge in favour for the benefit of the Treasury on any property reovered or preserved by an assisted person (whether for that or any other person) in any relevant proeedings or in any ompromise or settlement of any relevant dispute. 1 SD 101/97 SD No. 2014/0281 Page 3

4 Regulation 4 Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), the sums referred to in paragraph (1) are the amount of funding of the legal aid provided; and any interest payable under paragraph 8(3) of Shedule 1A. (3) Shedule 1A has effet with respet to the harge reated by paragraph (1) and the alulation of the sums referred to in paragraph (2).». (3) After Shedule 1 insert the provisions set out in the Shedule. 4 Duty of advoate After regulation 15(11) of the Legal Aid (General) Regulations , insert «(12) Where in the ourse or at the onlusion of a relevant dispute or relevant proeedings any property is reovered or preserved by the assisted person, the advoate must notify the Treasury in writing of the nature, amount and loation of the property within 7 days of the relevant deision or agreement. (13) In paragraph (12) "property", "reovered", "relevant dispute" and "relevant proeedings" have the same meanings as in Shedule 1A to the Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) Regulations 1997.». MADE 17 th Otober 2014 Andrew Swithinbank, Chairman Tony Jones, Member Tony Warham, Member. MEMBERS OF THE LEGAL AID COMMITTEE 2 SD 0144/97 Page 4 SD No. 2014/0281

5 Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 SCHEDULE SCHEDULE [Regulation 3(3)] NEW SCHEDULE 1A TO THE LEGAL AID (FINANCIAL RESOURCES) REGULATIONS 1997 «SCHEDULE 1A [Regulation 9A(3)] CHARGE ON PROPERTY RECOVERED OR PRESERVED 1 Interpretation (1) In regulation 9A and this Shedule assisted person has the same meanings as in setion 4 of the Legal Aid At 1986; harge means the harge reated by regulation 9A in respet of the amount defined in paragraph 2; property has the same meanings as in setion 4 of the Legal Aid At 1986; reovered, in relation to property, means property reovered or preserved by the assisted person, whether for that or any other person; relevant dispute means the dispute in onnetion with whih legal aid is provided; and relevant proeedings means proeedings in onnetion with whih legal aid is provided. (2) Referenes to the funding of legal aid and to property reovered or preserved in proeedings shall be onstrued in aordane with setion 4 of the Legal Aid At Calulation of the harge Where any property is reovered for an assisted person in a relevant dispute or proeedings, the amount of the harge shall be the aggregate of the sums referred to in regulation 9A(1) and. 3 Exemptions from the harge (1) The harge shall not apply to any of the following any periodial payment of maintenane; other than in irumstanes whih are exeptional having regard in partiular to the quantity or value of the items onerned, the SD No. 2014/0281 Page 5

6 SCHEDULE Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 () (d) (e) (f) (g) assisted person s lothes or household furniture or the tools or implements of his or her trade; any sum or sums ordered to be paid under setion 5 of the Inheritane (Provision for Family and Dependants) At 1982 or Part 5 of the Matrimonial Proeedings At 2003; the first 2,500 of the value of any property reovered by virtue of an order desribed in paragraph (2), or an agreement whih has the same effet as suh an order; one-half of any redundany payment (within the meaning of the Redundany Payments At 1990) reovered by the assisted person; the assisted person s main or only dwelling; any sum, payment or benefit whih, by virtue of any statutory provision, annot be assigned or harged. (2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)(d), the orders are () (d) (e) (f) an order for payment of a lump sum made under setion 28(1) or (2), 38(3), 60(1), 64(1) or (5) or 69(2) of the Matrimonial Proeedings At 2003; a property adjustment order made under setion 29 of that At; an order made under setion 50 of that At altering a maintenane agreement; an order under setion 128 or 129 (questions as to property) of that At; an order for payment of a lump sum under Shedule 1 to the Children and Young Persons At 2001; and an order under setion 2 or 6 of the Inheritane (Provision for Family and Dependants) At (3) In paragraph (1), "maintenane" means money or money s worth paid towards the support of a spouse or ivil partner, former spouse or ivil partner, former partner, hild or hild of the family of the payer, or any other person for whose support the payer has previously been responsible or has made payments. 4 Waiver of harge in ase of wider publi interest (1) For the purposes of this paragraph "wider publi interest" means the potential of proeedings to produe real benefits for individuals other than the assisted person (other than any general benefits whih normally flow from proeedings of the type in question). (2) This paragraph applies where Page 6 SD No. 2014/0281

7 Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 SCHEDULE legal aid is granted for proeedings whih the Legal Aid Committee onsiders have a signifiant wider publi interest; and the Treasury onsiders it ost-effetive to fund those servies for a speified laimant or laimants, but not for other laimants or potential laimants who might benefit from the litigation. (3) Where this paragraph applies, the Treasury may, if it onsiders it equitable to do so, waive some or all of the amount of the harge. 5 Operation of harge where ertifiate revoked or disharged Where a ertifiate has been revoked or disharged, regulation 9A shall apply to any property reovered as a result of the assisted person, or his or her personal representatives or trustee in bankrupty, ontinuing to pursue the relevant dispute or take, defend or be a party to the relevant proeedings. 6 Money in ourt (1) This paragraph applies where any money reovered by an assisted person in any proeedings is ordered to be paid into or remain in ourt and invested for the benefit of the assisted person. (2) Where this paragraph applies, the harge shall attah only to suh part of the money as, in the opinion of the Treasury, will be suffiient to safeguard the interests of the Treasury, and the Treasury shall notify the Chief Registrar in writing of the amount so attahed. 7 Enforement of harge Subjet to paragraph 8, the Treasury may enfore the harge in any manner whih would be available to a hargee in respet of a harge given between parties. 8 Postponement of enforement (1) The Treasury may postpone the enforement of the harge where (but only where) () it appears to the Treasury that it would be unreasonable for the assisted person to repay the amount of the harge; by order of the ourt or agreement it relates to property to be used as a home by the assisted person or his or her dependants, or, where the relevant proeedings were family proeedings (within the meaning of the Matrimonial Proeedings At 2003), to money to pay for suh a home; the Treasury is satisfied that the property in question will provide suh seurity for the harge as it onsiders appropriate; and SD No. 2014/0281 Page 7

8 SCHEDULE Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (d) as soon as it is possible to do so, the Treasury registers a harge under the Land Registration At 1982 to seure the amount in paragraph 2 or, as appropriate, takes equivalent steps to protet its interest in the property. (2) Where the assisted person wishes to purhase a property in substitution for the property over whih a harge is registered under paragraph (1)(), the Treasury may release the harge if the onditions in sub-paragraph (1) and () are satisfied. (3) Where the enforement of the harge is postponed, interest shall arue for the benefit of the Treasury in aordane with paragraph 10. (4) Without prejudie to the provisions of the Registration of Deeds At 1961 and the Land Registration At 1982, all onveyanes and ats done to defeat, or operating to defeat, any harge shall, exept in the ase of a bona fide purhaser for value without notie, be void as against the Treasury. 9 Review of postponement of enforement (1) The Treasury may review any deision to postpone enforement of the harge at any time. (2) If the Treasury reviews suh a deision, it shall either where the onditions in paragraph 8(1) to (d) are satisfied, ontinue to postpone enforement of the harge, in whih ase paragraph 8(3) shall also ontinue to apply, or otherwise, proeed to enfore the harge. (3) If the Treasury ontinues to postpone enforement under sub-paragraph (2) it may do so on suh terms or onditions as to repayment of the amount of the harge by way of interim payments of either apital or interest or both, or otherwise, as appear to the Treasury to be appropriate. 10 Payment and reovery of interest (1) Where interest is payable by the assisted person under paragraph 8, that interest shall ontinue to arue until the amount of the harge is paid. (2) The assisted person may make interim payments of interest or apital in respet of the outstanding amount of the harge, but no interim payment shall be used to redue the apital outstanding while any interest remains outstanding. (3) Where interest is payable by the assisted person under paragraph 8 interest arues from the date when the harge is first registered or, as appropriate, equivalent steps are taken to protet the Treasury's interest in the property; Page 8 SD No. 2014/0281

9 Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 SCHEDULE () (d) the appliable rate shall be 1 per ent. above the prevailing Bank of England base rate; subjet to (d) below, the appliable rate shall be varied on 1st April of eah subsequent year so that it remains at the rate of 1 per ent. above the Bank of England base rate then urrent; the variation set out in () above shall take plae only if the appliation of the new base rate has the effet of varying the base rate previously appliable by 1 per ent. or more; and (e) the apital on whih it is alulated is the lesser of (i) (ii) the amount of the statutory harge outstanding from time to time, less any interest arued by virtue of paragraph 8(3); or the value of the property reovered at the time of suh reovery, less the amount of any exemption under paragraph 3(1)(d) whih would apply were the amount of the harge to be paid.» SD No. 2014/0281 Page 9

10 Explanatory Note Legal Aid (Finanial Resoures) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 EXPLANATORY NOTE (This note is not part of the Regulations) These Regulations make provision for imposing a harge on money or other property reovered or preserved in legal proeedings so that the ost of legal aid an be repaid out of the property. They make the amount of any legal aid, plus interest in ertain ases, a first harge on the property in favour of the Treasury (regulation 3 and Shedule), and require the assisted person's advoate to give the Treasury details of the property (regulation 4). Page 10 SD No. 2014/0281

Legal Aid (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 LEGAL AID (GENERAL) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2014

Legal Aid (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 Index LEGAL AID (GENERAL) (AMENDMENT) REGULATIONS 2014 Index Regulation Page 1 Title... 5 2 Commenement... 5 3 Interpretation... 5 4 Legal Aid Certifying