The Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Statement of Means) (Amendment) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2005

Made9th November 2005

To be laid before Parliament

Coming into operation5th December 2005

The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred by Article 36(3) of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 19811, and now vested in him2, after consultation with the Lord Chief Justice, the Attorney General, the Crown Court Rules Committee and the Magistrates' Courts Rules Committee and with the approval of the Treasury, hereby makes the following Rules:

Citation and commencement1

These Rules may be cited as the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Statement of Means) (Amendment) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2005 and shall come into operation on 5th December 2005.

Interpretation2

In these Rules “the principal rules” means the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Statement of Means) Rules (Northern Ireland) 19993.

Amendment to the principal rules

3

In rule 2A of the principal rules after the definition of “diversionary youth conference” there shall be added—

“civil partner” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1 of the Civil Partnership Act 20044.

4

In Form 1 in the Schedule to the principal rules, in section A (Personal Details) question 6, after the word “Divorced” there shall be added the words “Other (please specify)”.

5

In Form 1 in the Schedule to the principal rules, in section E (Property and Savings) question 22, for the words “Spouse/Partner” there shall be substituted the words “Spouse/Partner/Civil Partner”.

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

Bridget PrenticeParliamentary Under-Secretary of State,Department for Constitutional AffairsDated 1st November 2005

We approve

Gillian MerronTom WatsonTwo of the Lord’s Commissioners of Her Majesty’s TreasuryDated 9th November 2005

(This note is not part of the Rules.)

These Rules amend the Legal Aid in Criminal Cases (Statement of Means) Rules (Northern Ireland) 1999 to insert a new marital status option of “Other” and to make reference to the legal status of civil partners, as created by the provisions of the Civil Partnership Act 2004, in the statement of means form which an applicant for free legal aid under Part III of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 may be required to furnish under Article 32 of that Order.