Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995

Membership of Board and terms of office of members.

4.—(1) The Board shall consist of a chairperson and 12 ordinary members, who shall be appointed to be members of the Board by the Minister and who, subject to the provisions of this section, shall hold and vacate office upon such terms and conditions as the Minister, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may determine.

(2) (a) The Minister shall from time to time as occasion requires appoint a member of the Board to be chairperson thereof.

(b) Where the chairperson of the Board ceases during his or her term of office as such chairperson to be a member of the Board, he or she shall thereupon also cease to be chairperson of the Board.

(c) The chairperson of the Board shall, unless he or she sooner dies, resigns, becomes disqualified or is removed from office as chairperson, hold office as such chairperson until the expiration of his or her term of office as a member of the Board but, if he or she is re-appointed as a member of the Board, he or she shall be eligible for re-appointment as chairperson of the Board.

(3) (a) In appointing persons to be members of the Board, the Minister shall have regard to the desirability of their having knowledge or experience of the law, the practice and procedure of the Courts, business, finance, management and administration, consumer or social affairs, or of any other subject, which would, in the opinion of the Minister, be of assistance to the Board in the performance of its functions.

(b) Of the members of the Board—

(i) 2 shall be barristers who have been engaged in practice as such for a period of not less than 7 years prior to their appointment as such members, and if either such member ceases during his or her term of office as such to be a practising barrister, he or she shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Board,

(ii) 2 shall be solicitors who have been engaged in practice as such for a period of not less than 7 years prior to their appointment as such members and, if either such member ceases during his or her term of office as such to be a practising solicitor, he or she shall thereupon cease to be a member of the Board,

(iii) 2 shall be members of the staff of the Board,

(iv) not less than 5 shall be men, and

(v) not less than 5 shall be women.

(4) (a) The term of office of a member of the Board shall be not more than 5 years and no person shall be appointed a member of the Board for more than 2 terms.

(b) Each member of the Board shall act on a part-time basis save where the Minister, on being satisfied that it is necessary to do so in the interest of the proper functioning of the Board and with the consent of the Minister for Finance, appoints any such member or members to act on a full-time basis.

(c) Each member of the Board shall be paid, out of the Fund, such remuneration (if any), superannuation benefits and allowances for expenses as the Minister with the consent of the Minister for Finance, may, from time to time determine.

(d) A member of the Board may at any time resign his or her office as a member by letter addressed to the Minister and the resignation shall take effect as and from the date on which the Minister receives the letter.

(e) The Minister may at any time remove a member of the Board from office who, in the opinion of the Minister, has become incapable through ill-health of effectively performing his or her functions or has committed stated misbehaviour or whose removal appears to the Minister to be necessary for the effective performance by the Board of its functions.

(5) (a) If a member of the Board dies, resigns, becomes disqualified or is removed from office, the Minister may appoint a person to be a member of the Board to fill the casual vacancy so occasioned.

(b) Subject to the other provisions of this section, a person appointed to be a member of the Board by virtue of this paragraph shall hold office for the remainder of the term of office of the member who occasioned the casual vacancy he or she is appointed to fill and shall be eligible for re-appointment for one further term as a member of the Board.

(6) The Board shall hold such and so many meetings as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

(7) The Minister may fix the date, time and place of the first meeting of the Board.

(8) The quorum for a meeting of the Board shall be 5 or such other number (not being less than 5) as the Board may from time to time determine.

(9) At a meeting of the Board—

(a) the chairperson of the Board shall, if present, chair the meeting, and

(b) if and so long as the chairperson is not present or if the office of chairperson of the Board is vacant, the members of the Board who are present shall choose one of their number to chair the meeting.

(10) The chairperson of the Board and each ordinary member of the Board present at a meeting thereof shall have a vote.

(11) Every question at a meeting of the Board shall be determined by a majority of the votes of the members present and voting on the question and, in the case of an equal division of votes, the chairperson of the Board or, in the absence of the chairperson, the member chosen to chair the meeting shall have a second or casting vote.

(12) The Board, and any committee appointed by the Board, may act notwithstanding one or more than one vacancy among its members.

(13) Subject to the provisions of this Act, the Board shall regulate, by standing orders or otherwise, the procedure and business of the Board.

(14) The Board shall, as soon as may be after its establishment, provide itself with a seal.

(15) The seal of the Board shall be authenticated by the signature of its chairperson, or another member of the Board authorised by it to act in that behalf and by the signature of an officer of the Board authorised by it to act in that behalf.

(16) Judicial notice shall be taken of the seal of the Board and every document purporting to be an instrument made by the Board and to be sealed with the seal (purporting to be authenticated in accordance with subsection (15)) of the Board shall be received in evidence and be deemed to be such instrument without proof unless the contrary is shown.