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.

(7) All communications and notices in any proceedings in respect of which legal aid is being granted may be addressed to the law centre responsible for providing the legal aid concerned.