Criminal Legal Aid—The New Legislation
| Published date | 01 August 1984 |
| Date | 01 August 1984 |
| DOI | 10.1177/002201838404800311 |
| Author | S. R. Wilson |
| Subject Matter | Article |
CRIMINAL
LEGAL
AID-THE
NEW
LEGISLATION
S. R. Wilson*
On
October
28, 1982,
the
Legal
Aid
Act
1982
(hereinafter
referred
to as the 1982 Act) was given the Royal Assent.
The
majority of
the provisionsof
the
Act
were
brought
intoeffect on March 1, 1984,
along with the Legal
Aid
in Criminal Proceedings
(General)
(Amendment)
Regulations 19831
(the
1983 Regulations); these
regulations
amend
the Legal Aid in Criminal Proceedings
(General)
Regulations 1968.2
From
this
date
the
provision of legal
aid in criminal proceedings has
been
substantially altered.
It
is
the
purpose
of this article to provide a
summary
of some of
the
more
important
changes
contained
in the 1982 Act, in
the
light of the
details of the 1983 Regulations.
Financial eligibility
Prior to the
implementation
of
the
1982 Act, the
requirements
as to
financial eligibility were
governed
by section
29(2)
of
the
Legal Aid
Act 1974 (the 1974 Act) which provided that
"a
court shall not make
a legal aid
order
...
unless it
appears
to
the
court
that
his [the
accused's] means
are
such
that
he requires assistance in meeting the
costs" of
the
proceedings. In
determining
the
means
ofthe
applicant
the provisions of the Legal
Aid
in Criminal Proceedings (Assess-
ment
of Resources) Regulations
1978
(as
amended)"
had to be
applied.
These,
briefly,
provided
that
if it is desirable in the interests
of justice to
make
alegal aid order,
then
it
should
be made if the
*Lecturer in Law. Newcastle upon Tyne Polytechnic.
I. S.1. 1983 No. 1863. These Regulations were made under powers given by ss.11
and 39 of the Legal Aid Act 1974 and ss.S, 6. 7 and 11(2) of the 1982 Act.
2. S.1. 1968 No. 1231. Any reference to Regulations in this article is a reference to
the 1968 Regulations as amended. unless otherwise stated.
3. The 1978 Regulations. except in so far as they relate to applications and
orders
made before March I. 1984. are revoked by the 1983 Regulations. i.e. reg. 1(3).
312
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