Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) (Amendment) Act 2022

Insertion of new section 57A into Principal Act

48. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 57 and in Part 6 of that Act:

Amendment of Act of 1995 regarding Part 6

57A. The Act of 1995 is amended—

(a) in section 1(1)—

(i) in the definition of ‘staff of the Board’, by the substitution of ‘Board;’ for ‘Board.’, and

(ii) by the insertion of the following definition:

‘“ward” has the meaning it has in Part 6 of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 .’,

(b) in section 26(3), by the insertion of the following paragraph:

‘(d) a party to an application, or to any other proceedings, under Part 6 of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015 shall qualify for legal advice.’,

(c) in section 28, by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3A) (inserted by section 52(c) of this Act):

‘(3B) Where the proceedings the subject matter of the application under this section concern an application under subsection (1), or proceedings pursuant to subsection (2) or (3), of section 54 of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015

(a) paragraphs (c) and (e) of subsection (2) shall not apply, and

(b) where the applicant is a ward, paragraph (a) shall not apply.’,

(d) in section 33, by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (7A) (inserted by section 52(e) of this Act):

‘(7B) Where a legal aid certificate has been granted to an applicant who is a ward who does not satisfy the criteria in respect of financial eligibility specified in section 29, the Board may seek to recover some or all of the costs of providing the legal aid to the ward concerned.’,

and

(e) in section 37(2), by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (fc) (inserted by section 52(f) of this Act):

‘(fd) make provision for the mechanism for recovery of the costs referred to in section 33(7B);’.”.