Legal Aid (Assessment of Resources) Regulations, 1950
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | SI 1950/1358 |
| Year | 1950 |
1950 No. 1358
The Legal Aid (Assessment of Resources) Regulations, 19508thAugust 1950
11thAugust 1950
2ndOctober 1950
In pursuance of the powers conferred upon me by section 4 of the Legal Aid and Advice Act, 1949(b), and all other powers enabling me in this behalf, I, William Allen, Viscount Jowitt, Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, with the concurrence of the Treasury, hereby make the following regulations:—
1.—(1) These regulations may be cited as the Legal Aid (Assessment of Resources) Regulations, 1950 and shall come into operation on the second day of October, 1950.
(2) In these regulations unless the context otherwise requires—
"the Act" means the Legal Aid and Advice Act, 1949.
"the Board" means the National Assistance Board.
"the committee" means an Area or Local Committee set up by a scheme made under section 8 of the Act by whom the Board are requested to determine the disposable income and the disposable capital and the maximum contribution of any person or any Committee so set up by whom a certificate is amended, revoked or discharged as the case may require.
"a certificate" means a Civil Aid Certificate issued in accordance with regulations made under the Act.
"dependent child" means a child or stepchild of the person concerned, living with him and under the upper limit of compulsory school age and "the upper limit of compulsory school age" means the age that is for the time being the upper limit of compulsory school age by virtue of section 35 of the Education Act, 1944(c), together with any Order in Council made under that section without regard to the provisions of section 8 of the Education Act, 1946(d), as to deeming a person not to have attained a given age until the end of a school term.
"income" includes benefits and privileges.
"the period of computation" means the period of 12 months next ensuing from the date of the application for a certificate or such other period of 12 months as in the particular circumstances of any case the Board may consider to be appropriate.
(b) 12, 13 & 14 Geo. 6. c. 51.
(c) 7 & 8 Geo. 6. c. 31.
(d) 9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 50.
"the person concerned" means the person whose disposable income, disposable capital and maximum contribution are to be determined or the person the rate of whose income and the amount of whose capital is to be computed or the person whose resources are to be treated as the resources of any other person as the case may require;
and other expressions shall have the same meaning as in the Act.
(3) The Interpretation Act, 1889(a), applies to these Regulations as it applies to the interpretation of an Act of Parliament.
2. In computing the rate of income or the amount of capital of the person concerned there shall be excluded the value of the subject matter of the dispute in respect of which application has been made for a certificate.
3. Where any person or persons have a duty or discretion to use any fund, for the benefit of the person concerned there may be included in the resources of the person concerned, whether for the purpose of computing the rate of his income or the amount of his capital, so much of that fund as appears to the Board to be reasonable.
4.—(1) Except as otherwise provided in the next succeeding paragraph of this regulation, in computing the rate of income and the amount of capital of the person concerned the resources of his or her spouse shall be treated as his or her resources.
(2) The resources of the spouse of the person concerned shall not be treated as his or her resources if—
(i) the proceedings in respect of which the application for a certificate is made are a matrimonial cause; or
(ii) the person concerned and the spouse are living separate and apart; or
(iii) it would in the circumstances of the case be either inequitable or impracticable to make the resources of one spouse available to the other spouse.
5.—(1) Where an application for a certificate is made by or on behalf of an infant, there may, in addition to the resources of the infant, be taken into account to an extent not exceeding that provided in paragraph (4) of this regulation the disposable income and disposable capital of such other person or persons, being one or more of the following persons as the Board having regard to all the circumstances including the age and resources of the infant may decide, that is to say:—
(i) any person who under section 42 of the National Assistance Act, 1948(b), is liable to maintain the infant;
(ii) any person having the care and control of the infant not being a person having such care and control by reason of any contract or for some temporary purpose; and
(iii) a person who usually contributes substantially to the infant's maintenance being a parent, step-parent or near relative of the infant.
(2) In the next succeeding paragraphs of this regulation "contributor" means a person whose disposable income and disposable capital the Board decide shall be taken into account.
(3) For the purposes of this regulation the provisions of the last foregoing regulation relating to treating the resources of a person as including the resources of his or her spouse shall not apply to a contributor unless the Board so decide.
(4) There may be treated as part of the disposable income and disposable capital of the infant:—
(i) the disposable income and disposable capital of each contributor who is a parent or step-parent of the infant;
(a) 52 & 53 Vict. c. 63.
(ii) the disposable income of each other contributor reduced by £156 in respect of each such other contributor; and
(iii) the disposable capital of each other contributor reduced by £75 in respect of each such other contributor:
Provided that the Board may in special circumstances treat the disposable income and disposable capital of a step-parent as if he were a contributor other than a parent or step-parent.
6. If it appears to the Board that the person concerned, with intent to reduce the amount of his disposable income, disposable capital or maximum contribution, has directly or indirectly deprived himself of any resource or has converted any part of his resources into resources which under these regulations are to be wholly or partly disregarded or in respect of which nothing is to be included, the resources of which he has so deprived himself or which he has so converted shall be treated as part of his resources or as not so converted as the case may be.
7. Save as otherwise provided by these regulations, the disposable income of the person concerned shall be determined at the amount calculated by deducting from his rate of income computed in accordance with Part I of the First Schedule to these regulations the sums computed in accordance with Part II of the said Schedule.
8. Save as otherwise provided by these regulations, the disposable capital of the person concerned shall be...
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