Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Legal Aid (Costs of Successful Unassisted Parties) (Amendment) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 5th December 2005.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations “the principal regulations” means the Legal Aid (Costs of Successful Unassisted Parties) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1965(3).

Amendment to the principal regulations

3.  In regulation 1(2) of the principal regulations after the definition of “chief clerk” there shall be inserted —

““civil partner” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1 of the Civil Partnership Act 2004(4);”

4.  In paragraph 6 of the Schedule to the principal regulations—

(a)for the words “has had, a spouse” there shall be substituted the words “has had, a spouse or civil partner”;

(b)for the words “specify that spouse’s financial resources, expectations and commitments, unless she had” there shall be substituted the words “specify that spouse’s or civil partner’s financial resources, expectations and commitments, unless the spouse or civil partner had”; and

(c)for the words “and his spouse are” there shall be substituted the words “and his spouse or civil partner are”.

Explanatory Note

(This note is not part of the Regulations.)

These Regulations amend the Legal Aid (Costs of Successful Unassisted Parties) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 1965 to insert references to the legal status of civil partners, as created by the provisions of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, to ensure an application for an order under Article 16 of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 by any person who is in a civil partnership is determined in a manner consistent with the existing Regulations.