Civil Legal Aid Act 1995
Location of law centres and provision of legal aid and advice.
30.—(1) The Board may make legal aid and advice available through centres, to be known as law centres, established by it under this section with the consent of the Minister or established or used by the former Board for the provision of services under the Scheme, or through solicitors or barristers whose names are entered on panels established and maintained by it under subsection (3).
(2) Subject to the other provisions of this Act, a person shall be entitled to apply for legal aid or advice through any law centre irrespective of his or her place of residence.
(3) The Board may establish and maintain—
(a) a panel (to be known as “the solicitors' panel”) containing a list of names of solicitors who are willing to provide legal aid and advice, and
(b) a panel (to be known as “the barristers' panel”) containing a list of names of barristers who are willing to provide legal aid and advice,
on such terms and conditions as the Board may, with the consent of the Minister and the Minister for Finance, from time to time determine.
(4) Any solicitor or barrister who is prepared to comply with the terms and conditions referred to in subsection (3) shall be entitled to have his or her name included on the appropriate panel unless his or her conduct when providing or selected to provide legal aid or advice or his or her professional conduct generally render him or her unsuitable, in the opinion of the Board, to provide such aid or advice.
(5) Where a solicitor is entered on the solicitors' panel on behalf of a firm of solicitors he or she shall, when providing legal aid or advice, be deemed to do so on behalf of the firm.
(6) Any law centre may provide legal aid or advice to more than one party to a dispute provided that each such party is represented by a separate solicitor and, where appropriate, barrister.
F43[(6A) Where the Board has granted a person a legal aid certificate for proceedings in any court or before any tribunal prescribed by the Minister under section 27(2), then, notwithstanding any enactment (including any provision of this Act), any statutory instrument made under any enactment, or any rule of law, the proceedings shall, in so far as they relate to the solicitor for any party to the proceedings pursuant to the certificate, be issued in—
(a) the name of the law centre concerned where the law centre is responsible for providing the legal aid concerned,
(b) in any other case, the name of the solicitor or firm of solicitors responsible for providing the legal aid concerned.]
(7) All communications and notices in any proceedings in respect of which legal aid is being granted F44[shall] be addressed to the law centre responsible for providing the legal aid concerned.
Annotations
Amendments:
F43
Inserted (20.07.2008) by Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 (14/2008), s. 81(a), S.I. No. 274 of 2008.
F44
Substituted (20.07.2008) by Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2008 (14/2008), s. 81(b), S.I. No. 274 of 2008.
Modifications (not altering text):
C14
Functions transferred and references to the Minister for and Department of Finance construed as Minister for and Department of Public Expenditure and Reform (29.07.2011) by Finance (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 418 of 2011), arts. 2, 3, 5 and sch. 1 part 2, in effect as per art. 1(2), subject to transitional provisions in arts. 6-9.
2. (1) The administration and business in connection with the performance of any functions transferred by this Order are transferred to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
(2) References to the Department of Finance contained in any Act or instrument made thereunder and relating to the administration and business transferred by paragraph (1) shall, on and after the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform.
3. The functions conferred on the Minister for Finance by or under the provisions of —
(a) the enactments specified in Schedule 1, and
(b) the statutory instruments specified in Schedule 2,
are transferred to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
...
5. References to the Minister for Finance contained in any Act or instrument under an Act and relating to any functions transferred by this Order shall, from the commencement of this Order, be construed as references to the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.
...
Schedule 1
Enactments
...
Part 2
1922 to 2011 Enactments
|
Number and Year |
Short Title |
Provision |
|
(1) |
(2) |
(3) |
|
... |
... |
... |
|
No. 32 of 1995 |
Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 |
Sections 6, 11(4), (5), (7) and (8), 18, 19(1), 20(1), 27(2), 28(10), 30(3) and 33(9) |
|
... |
... |
... |
Note that the name of the Minister for and Department of Public Expediture and Reform as was changed to:
• Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (1.02.2023) by Public Expenditure and Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2023 (S.I. No. 19 of 2023), in effect as per art. 1(2);
• Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (5.06.2025) by Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2025 (S.I. No. 243 of 2025), in effect as per art. 1(2).