Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995
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Selection of solicitor or barrister. |
31.—(1) The Board shall, upon deciding to grant legal aid or advice to a person, nominate a solicitor of the Board for the purpose of providing such person with such legal aid or advice, or refer the person to the solicitors' panel to select a solicitor therefrom, which solicitor shall, upon selection, be engaged by the Board for the said purpose under section 11 . | |
(2) The Board may, having taken into account the views of the person to whom it has decided to grant legal aid or advice, nominate any barrister whose name is entered on the barristers' panel for the purpose of providing such person with such legal aid or advice as the Board considers should necessarily be provided by a barrister in the circumstances, and the barrister so nominated shall, subject to subsection (3), be engaged by the Board under section 11 for the said purpose on the instructions of the solicitor nominated by the Board in the matter under subsection (1) or engaged by the Board in the matter under section 11 . | ||
(3) Where a person to whom the Board has decided to grant legal aid or advice wishes to be provided with the services of— | ||
(a) a solicitor other than one nominated by the Board pursuant to subsection (1), or | ||
(b) a barrister other than one nominated by the Board pursuant to subsection (2), | ||
that person may make an application to the Board in that regard and, if the Board considers that the person's wish is reasonable in all the circumstances, it may consent to the application and, as may be appropriate, nominate such other solicitor for the purpose under subsection (1) or engage such other solicitor or barrister for the purpose under section 11 . | ||
(4) Where a person to whom the Board has decided to grant legal aid or advice has— | ||
(a) accepted the nomination of a solicitor or selected a solicitor from the solicitors' panel pursuant to subsection (1) or been granted the services of a solicitor pursuant to an application under subsection (3), or | ||
(b) accepted the nomination of a barrister pursuant to subsection (2) or been granted the services of a barrister pursuant to an application under subsection (3), | ||
the person may apply to the Board to have the services of that solicitor or barrister dispensed with and the services of another solicitor of the Board or solicitor from the solicitors' panel or, as may be appropriate, barrister from the barristers' panel obtained in the matter and where the Board considers it reasonable in all the circumstances, it may consent to the application. | ||
(5) Where the Board consents to an application under subsection (3) or (4), the additional expense (if any) occasioned by the person or the Board by so doing shall be borne by the applicant, unless the Board considers that it is reasonable in all the circumstances that such expense be borne by the Fund. | ||
(6) A solicitor nominated by the Board or engaged by the Board for the purpose of providing a person with legal aid or advice may, at his or her discretion, nominate another solicitor, being a solicitor who is qualified to provide legal aid or advice, to act as his or her agent in the matter or in any aspect thereof. |