Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698830760328.pdf (Singapore)
Legal Aid and Advice (Amendment) Bill Bill No.

2/2013.

Read the first time on 14th January 2013.

A BILL i n t i t u l e d An Act to amend the Legal Aid and Advice Act (Chapter 160 of the 1996 Revised Edition).

Be it enacted by the President with the advice and consent of the Parliament of Singapore, as follows: Short title and commencement 2 1.
This Act may be cited as the Legal Aid and Advice (Amendment) Act 2013 and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister may, by notification in the Gazette, appoint.

5 Amendment of section 2 2.
Section 2 of the Legal Aid and Advice Act (referred to in this Act as the principal Act) is amended — (a) by deleting the definition of “aided person” and substituting the following definitions: 10 15 20 25 “ “aided person” means a person who is issued a Grant of Aid and, where such a person is a minor, includes his guardian; “court” means any court, tribunal or adjudicator before which or before whom any proceedings referred to in Part I of the First Schedule are heard;”; (b) by deleting the definition of “guardian” and substituting the following definitions: “ “Grant of Aid” means the document issued by the Director under section 8(2) stating that legal aid is granted to a person; “guardian”, in relation to a minor, includes any person whom the Director considers might properly be appointed to be the litigation representative of the minor;”; and (c) by deleting the definition of “legal aid certificate”.
Amendment of section 4 3.

Section 4 of the principal Act is amended — (a) by deleting subsection (2) and substituting the following 30 subsections: “(2) Any solicitor shall be entitled to have his name on the panels or any of them unless there is good reason for 3 excluding or removing him on any of the grounds under subsection (2A).
(2A) The Director may, at any time, exclude or remove any solicitor from any panel — (a) if the solicitor has ceased to be a practising 5 solicitor for any reason; (b) if the solicitor has requested that the Director remove him from the panel; (c) if the solicitor has shown from his conduct when assigned to act for persons receiving legal aid or from his professional conduct generally that he is not a suitable person to remain on the panel; or (d) if, in the opinion of the Director — (i) the solicitor is not a suitable person to be or remain on the panel for any other reason; or (ii) it is necessary or expedient to exclude or remove the solicitor’s name from the panel for any other reason.”; 10 15 (b) by inserting, immediately after the word “excluding” in 20 subsection (3), the words “or removing”; and (c) by deleting subsection (4) and substituting the following subsection: “(4) A solicitor shall have the duty to disclose to the Director any information or give any opinion which may enable the Director to perform his functions under this Act, including such information or opinion which may reasonably be taken into account by the Director or the board referred to in section 8 in determining whether to refuse or cancel legal aid to a person or an aided person, and the solicitor shall not be precluded from so doing by reason of any privilege arising out of the relationship between solicitor and client.”.
25 30 Amendment of section 5 4 4.

Section 5 of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “or tribunal” in subsections (2) and (3).

Amendment of section 6 5 5.

Section 6 of the principal Act is amended — (a) by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsections: 10 “(1) Any person who (whether in his own right or in a representative capacity) desires to be granted legal aid shall make an application in that behalf to the Director.
(1A) Every application made under subsection (1) shall be accompanied by such fee (which shall be inclusive of goods and services tax) as may be prescribed.”; 15 (b) by deleting the words “an infant” in subsections (2) and (3) and substituting in each case the words “a minor”; (c) by deleting the words “the infant” wherever they appear in subsections (2) and (3)(a) and (b) and substituting in each case the words “the minor”; and 20 (d) by inserting, immediately after subsection (4), the following subsection: “(5) Where — 25 30 (a) an aided person was a minor at the time legal aid any was granted to him in respect of proceedings; (b) such proceedings have not been concluded by the time he attains the age of 21 years; and (c) the aided person wishes to continue receiving legal aid in respect of those proceedings after attaining the age of 21 years, the aided person shall, upon attaining the age of 21 years, make a fresh application under subsection (1) for legal 5 aid in his own right to the Director in respect of those proceedings.”.
Amendment of section 8 6.

Section 8 of the principal Act is amended — (a) by deleting the words “grant to an applicant a certificate” in subsection (2) and substituting the words “issue a Grant of Aid to an applicant”; (b) by deleting the words “grant a legal aid certificate” in subsection (4) and substituting the words “issue a Grant of Aid”; and (c) by deleting the marginal note and inserting the following section heading: “Grant of Aid”.

Amendment of section 9 7.


Section 9 of the principal Act is amended — (a) by deleting subsections (1), (2) and (3) and substituting the following subsections: “(1) The Director may require an applicant to make one or more contributions in one lump sum or by instalments in respect of any matter for which an application for legal aid has been made by that applicant.
(2) Unless the regulations otherwise provide, any sum remaining unpaid on account of a person’s contribution in respect of any matter for which legal aid has been granted shall be a first charge on any property which is recovered or preserved for that person in the proceedings connected to the matter in favour of any fund established under this Act.”; (b) by deleting the words “subsection (3)” in subsection (4) and substituting the words “subsection (2)”; and (c) by deleting subsection (6) and substituting the following subsection: 6 “(6) The Director may, in his discretion, reduce, waive or refund any contribution which an applicant is required to pay under subsection (1).”.
Amendment of section 10 5 8.

Section 10 of the principal Act is amended — (a) by deleting subsections (1) and (2) and substituting the following subsections: 10 15 20 25 “(1) The Director may, at any time and whether or not an application has been made for the purpose, cancel a Grant of Aid, and subject to subsection (2), the person to whom the Grant of Aid was issued shall, as from the date of cancellation, cease to be an aided person.
the Grant of Aid cancelled under (2) Where subsection (1) has been filed with any court, the Director shall file with the court a notification of the cancellation, and the person to whom the Grant of Aid was issued shall, as from the date of filing of such notification, cease to be an aided person.”; (b) by deleting the words “a judge of the court in which the litigation is pending, all proceedings in the litigation” in subsection (3) and substituting the words “the court before which any proceedings are pending, all steps in the proceedings”; (c) by deleting the words “a judge of the court in which the litigation is pending” in subsection (4) and substituting the words “the court before which any proceedings are pending”; (d) by deleting the words “a legal aid certificate has been granted” in subsection (5) and substituting the words “a Grant of Aid has been issued”; 30 (e) by deleting the words “such certificate” in subsection (5) and substituting the words “such Grant of Aid”; and 7 (f) by deleting the marginal note and inserting the following section heading: “Cancellation of Grant of Aid”.
Amendment of section 11 9.

Section 11(2) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the 5 words “by the aided person, if he so desires, or otherwise”.

Amendment of section 12 10.


Section 12 of the principal Act is amended — (a) by deleting subsections (1), (2) and (3) and substituting the following subsections: “(1) Where a Grant of Aid is issued, the Director may act for the aided person or may select a solicitor from the appropriate panel of solicitors maintained pursuant to section 4 and assign that solicitor to act for the aided person.
(2) A fresh Grant of Aid shall be filed with the court in which any proceedings are taken or are pending in any case where — (a) a solicitor is assigned to act after a Grant of Aid has been filed with the court; or (b) a new assignment is made in place of a solicitor previously assigned.
(3) Before taking any other step in the proceedings, the Director or the solicitor so assigned shall file the Grant of Aid with the court in which the proceedings are to be taken or are pending and no fee shall be charged in respect of the filing of the Grant of Aid.”; 10 15 20 25 (b) by deleting the words “legal aid certificate” in subsection (4) and substituting the words “Grant of Aid”; (c) by deleting the word “certificate” in subsection (4)(a), (b) and (c) and substituting in each case the words “Grant of Aid”; 30 8 (d) by inserting, immediately after the words “the Sheriff” in subsection (4)(a), the words “or bailiff”; (e) by deleting the word “and” at the end of subsection (4)(b); (f) by deleting the full-stop at the end of paragraph (c) of subsection (4) and substituting the word “; and”, and by inserting immediately thereafter the following paragraph: under “(d) shall not be liable to pay any deposit which would have been payable to the Official Assignee under section 166 of the Bankruptcy Act (Cap.
20), where legal aid has been granted to the aided person to commence bankruptcy proceedings against a debtor.”; rules made the (g) by inserting, immediately after subsection (5), the following subsection: “(6) For the avoidance of doubt, the Director may take proceedings — (a) to enforce or give effect to any order or agreement for the recovery or preservation of property for the benefit of the aided person where, in respect of such property, there is a charge created under section 9(2) in favour of any fund established under this Act; (b) to enforce or give effect to any order or agreement for the payment of costs to an aided person in any proceedings to which an aided person is a party; or (c) to recover any sum due to any fund established under this Act from any person, and in such event — (i) no Grant of Aid shall be required in respect of the proceedings taken by the Director; and 9 (ii) subsection (4) shall apply to the proceedings taken by the Director as if the proceedings were taken by an aided person.”; and (h) by deleting the marginal note and inserting the following section heading: “Endorsement and filing of Grant of Aid”.
Amendment of section 13 11.
Section 13 of the principal Act is amended — (a) by deleting subsections (1) and (2) and substituting the following subsections: “(1) The Director may require any applicant for legal aid or any person to whom a Grant of Aid is issued to deposit with him such amounts at such times as the Director may think fit to be used in or towards meeting out-of-pocket expenses (not including office expenses) incurred in connection with the application or with any proceedings to which the application or the Grant of Aid relates.
(2) Any amount deposited under subsection (1) shall be used only to pay — (a) firstly, the out-of-pocket expenses referred to in that subsection; and (b) thereafter, any outstanding contribution the applicant is required to pay under section 9(1).
the in payments (2A) After subsection (2)(a) and (b) have been made, the balance of the amount deposited under subsection (1), if any, shall be refunded to the applicant or the aided person, as the case may be.”; and referred to (b) by inserting, immediately after subsection (4), the following 30 subsection: “(5) Where the Director has made any advance out of the funds in his control to meet out-of-pocket expenses 10 under subsection (3), the Director may require the applicant or the aided person, as the case may be, in respect of whom those expenses are incurred to repay to the Director any amount expended or advanced in such manner as the Director thinks fit.”.
Amendment of section 14 12.

Section 14 of the principal Act is amended — (a) by deleting the words “or a judge” in subsections (1) and (3); (b) by deleting the words “legal aid certificate” in subsections (1) and (2) and substituting in each case the words “Grant of Aid”; and (c) by deleting the words “or the judge” in subsections (1) and (3).

Amendment of section 16 13.


Section 16(4) of the principal Act is amended by deleting the words “legal aid certificate has been granted” and substituting the words “Grant of Aid has been issued”.

5 10 15 Amendment of section 17 14.
Section 17 of the principal Act is amended — 20 (a) by deleting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection: “(1) Where proceedings have been commenced and any party makes an application for legal aid, the Director shall, as soon as practicable after the application is made, notify the other party or each of the other parties, and file with the court in which the proceedings are pending, a notification in a prescribed form and no fee shall be payable in respect of the filing of the notification.”; (b) by deleting the words “Where any memorandum is so filed, then, unless otherwise ordered by a judge of the court in which the litigation is pending, all proceedings in the litigation shall, by virtue of this section, be stayed for a 25 30 11 period of 14 days, and during that period (unless otherwise ordered by any such judge)” in subsection (2) and substituting the words “Where any notification is so filed, then, unless otherwise ordered by the court before which the proceedings are pending, all steps in the proceedings shall, by virtue of this section, be stayed for a period of 14 days, and during that period (unless otherwise ordered by the court)”; (c) by deleting the word “memorandum” in paragraph (a) of the proviso to subsection (2) and substituting the word “notification”; and (d) by deleting the words “a judge of the court in which the litigation is pending” in subsections (2) (paragraphs (a)(iii) and (b) of the proviso) and (3) and substituting in each case the words “the court before which proceedings are pending”.
Repeal and re-enactment of section 18 15.
Section 18 of the principal Act is repealed and the following section substituted therefor: “Appeal by aided persons 18.—(1) Where — (a) a Grant of Aid has been filed in any court, and the proceedings to which the Grant of Aid relates have been heard in that court; and (b) the aided person desires to prosecute any appeal therefrom, the aided person must make a fresh application for legal aid to the Director in respect of that matter, and the conditions for the issue of the Grant of Aid set out in section 8 shall apply.
(2) Subsection (1) shall not apply to an appeal in respect of any interlocutory matter in any proceedings.”.

5 10 15 20 25 12 Amendment of section 20 16.


Section 20 of the principal Act is amended — 5 10 (a) by deleting paragraph (b) of subsection (4) and substituting the following paragraph: “(b) to pay to the Director a prescribed fee (which shall be inclusive of goods and services tax).”; and (b) by inserting, immediately after subsection (4), the following subsection: “(5) Where a person who desires to be given legal advice is a minor, the application shall be made on behalf of the minor by his guardian.”.
Repeal and re-enactment of section 21 17.

Section 21 of the principal Act is repealed and the following 15 section substituted therefor: “False or misleading statements, etc.

20 25 21.
If at any time a person seeking or receiving legal aid or legal advice — (a) knowingly makes any false or misleading statement or representation in his application for legal aid or legal advice; (b) fails to make full and frank disclosure of his means; or (c) fails to inform the Director of any changes to his means or circumstances which may render him ineligible for legal aid, the person shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or to both.”.
13 Amendment of section 22 18.

Section 22 of the principal Act is amended — (a) by deleting the words in subsections (1)(b) and (2) and substituting in each case the words “Grant of Aid”; and certificate” “legal aid 5 (b) by deleting the words “or tribunal” in subsection (3).

Amendment of section 23 19.


Section 23(2) of the principal Act is amended by inserting, immediately after paragraph (c), the following paragraph: “(ca) make provision as to the circumstances a Grant of Aid 10 issued to a person may be cancelled;”.

Amendment of First Schedule 20.

Part I of the First Schedule to the principal Act is amended by deleting paragraph 7 and substituting the following paragraphs: “6.
Proceedings before the Syariah Court and the Syariah Court Appeal Board under the Administration of Muslim Law Act (Cap.

3).

15 7.

Proceedings before the Commissioner for Labour under the Work Injury Compensation Act (Cap.

354).”.

Amendment of Second Schedule 21.
The Second Schedule to the principal Act is amended — 20 (a) by deleting paragraphs 2 and 3; (b) by deleting “$7,800” in paragraph (e) of the definition of in paragraph 4 and substituting capital” “disposable “$13,000”; (c) by deleting the word “and” at the end of paragraph (f) of the 25 definition of “disposable capital” in paragraph 4; (d) by deleting the semi-colon at the end of paragraph (g) of the definition of “disposable capital” in paragraph 4 and including such moneys in the substituting the words “, Central Provident Fund withdrawn for investments in accordance with the Central Provident Fund Act (Cap.
36) 30 14 and the Central Provident Fund (Investment Schemes) Regulations (Cap.
36, Rg 9); and”; (e) by inserting, immediately after paragraph (g) of the definition the following of “disposable capital” in paragraph 4, paragraph: “(h) the total surrender value of one or more life policies held by the applicant up to the amount of $46,000;”; (f) by deleting the definition of “disposable income” in paragraph 4 and substituting the following definitions: “ “disposable income” means the income of the applicant together with the income (if any) of the applicant’s spouse during the period of 12 months immediately preceding the date of the application, after deducting therefrom — (a) an amount equal to $6,000 for the applicant; (b) an amount equal to $6,000 from the income of the applicant’s spouse, if such income is not disregarded under paragraph 5; (c) an amount equal to the total sum contributed by the applicant and his spouse during that period towards the maintenance of each person partially or totally dependent on the applicant or the spouse, subject to a cap of $6,000; (d) an amount not exceeding $20,000 for rent; (e) an amount equal to the applicant’s contributions to the Central Provident Fund during that period; and (f) an amount equal spouse’s to the contributions to the Central Provident Fund during that period, if the spouse’s income is not disregarded under paragraph 5; applicant’s “life policy” has the same meaning as in paragraph 5 of the First Schedule to the Insurance Act (Cap.
142) but does not include any investment-linked policy as defined in paragraph 6 of the First Schedule to that Act.”; (g) by deleting the words “paragraphs 1 and 2” in paragraphs 5 the words and substituting in each case and 6(1) “paragraph 1”; 15 (h) by deleting sub‑paragraph (b) of paragraph 7(2) and substituting the following sub‑paragraph: together with the income (if any) of “(b) regard “disposable income” to mean the income of an the applicant applicant’s spouse, during the period of 6 months immediately preceding the date of the application, after deducting therefrom — (i) an amount equal to $3,000 for the applicant; (ii) an amount equal to $3,000 from the income of the applicant’s spouse, if such income is not disregarded under paragraph 5; (iii) an amount equal to the total sum contributed by the applicant and his spouse during that period towards the maintenance of each person partially or totally dependent on the applicant or the spouse, subject to a cap of $3,000; (iv) an amount not exceeding $10,000 for rent; (v) an amount equal to the applicant’s contributions to the Central Provident Fund during that period; and (vi) an amount equal to the applicant’s spouse’s contributions to the Central Provident Fund during that period, if the spouse’s income is not disregarded under paragraph 5.”; and (i) by inserting, immediately after paragraph 7, the following paragraph: “8.—(1) For the purposes of paragraph 1, and without prejudice to any exclusion or deduction provided under paragraph 4, the Director may, in any case where an applicant has applied for legal aid in respect of family proceedings, exclude the following property in determining the disposable capital which the applicant is possessed of: (a) a dwelling‑house owned and exclusively used by the applicant and his family as their home if the annual value of the dwelling‑house is assessed at not more than $20,000; and (b) an additional amount equal to $5,000.
(2) In this paragraph, “family proceedings” means any of the following proceedings: 5 10 15 16 (a) proceedings under the Guardianship of Infants Act (Cap.

122); (b) proceedings under Part VII of the Women’s Charter (Cap.
353) involving the applicant, his spouse, former spouse or a child of the applicant who is a minor; (c) any proceedings under Parts VIII and IX of the Women’s Charter involving maintenance for a child of the applicant who is a minor; (d) proceedings under Part X of the Women’s Charter involving any issue relating to the care, control, custody or maintenance of any child of the applicant who is a minor; (e) proceedings under sections 52 and 53 of the Administration of Muslim Law Act (Cap.
3) involving the custody, maintenance and education of any child of the applicant who is a minor or the enforcement of an order for the maintenance of such child; (f) an appeal against an order made by a court in any of the proceedings referred to in sub‑paragraphs (a) to (e).”.
Savings and transitional provisions 20 22.—(1) Every legal aid certificate granted under the principal Act in force immediately before the appointed day shall — 25 30 (a) have the same force and effect as if it were a Grant of Aid issued under the principal Act as amended by this Act; and (b) continue to be valid for the unexpired part of the validity period it would have had under the principal Act in force immediately before the appointed day.
(2) Every application for legal aid made before the appointed day under the principal Act in force immediately before the appointed day and pending on that day shall be deemed to be an application for a Grant of Aid under the principal Act as amended by this Act.
(3) Subject to subsection (4), every notice given and any act or thing done under the principal Act in force immediately before the appointed day shall have the same force and effect as if they were done under the principal Act as amended by this Act.
17 (4) Where a solicitor has been excluded from a panel of solicitors by the Director under section 4 of the principal Act in force immediately before the appointed day, the provisions of that section shall continue to apply to him in respect of that exclusion as if this Act had not been enacted.

5 (5) For a period of 2 years after the appointed day, the Minister may make regulations prescribing such additional provisions of a transitional or savings nature as he may consider necessary or expedient.
(6) In this section, “appointed day” means the date of 10 commencement of this Act.

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT This Bill seeks to amend the Legal Aid and Advice Act (Cap.
160) for the following main purposes: (a) to replace and to clarify the meaning of certain terms used in the Act; (b) to empower the Director of Legal Aid (the Director) to exclude or remove a solicitor from one or more panels of assigned solicitors on certain grounds and to expand the grounds on which a solicitor may be excluded or removed from any panel; (c) to require an aided person who is a minor when legal aid was granted to him to make a fresh application for legal aid when he attains 21 years of age; (d) to amend the provisions relating to the contributions payable by an applicant for legal aid; (e) to clarify the procedural requirements relating to the Grant of Aid for appeal proceedings and the appointment of a new or replacement assigned solicitor for an aided person; (f) to exempt an aided person from the payment of bailiff fees and the deposit required for commencing bankruptcy proceedings; (g) to specify the purposes for which a deposit paid by an aided person to the Director may be used and to empower the Director to require such person to reimburse the Director for out-of-pocket expenses incurred on the person’s behalf; 18 (h) to clarify that legal aid may be granted for proceedings before the Syariah Court Appeal Board constituted under the Administration of Muslim Law Act (Cap.
3) and to enable legal aid to be granted in respect of proceedings before the Commissioner in respect of work injury for Labour compensation claims under the Work Injury Compensation Act (Cap.

354) and to make consequential technical amendments arising therefrom; and (i) to refine the means test.

Clause 1 relates to the short title and commencement.

Clause 2 inserts new definitions for “Grant of Aid” (the document which will replace the legal aid certificate) and “court”.
The word “court” is defined such that it will include the Commissioner for Labour when he adjudicates on work injury compensation claims and an Appeal Board constituted under the Administration of Muslim Law Act (see clause 20).

A consequential amendment is made to the definition of “aided person” arising from the re‑naming of the legal aid certificate as a Grant of Aid.

A minor technical amendment is made to the definition of “guardian”.
Clause 3 amends section 4 to empower the Director to exclude or remove a solicitor from a panel of assigned solicitors on his own volition on certain grounds.

The grounds for excluding or removing a solicitor from a panel of assigned solicitors have also been aligned with those for the removal of a solicitor.

A solicitor so excluded or removed may appeal against the Director’s decision if he is aggrieved by it.
Clause 4 amends section 5 to remove the reference to “tribunal” in subsections (2) and (3) which have become obsolete in light of the new definition of “court”.

Clause 5 amends section 6 to remove the requirement for an application for legal aid to be accompanied by a statutory declaration, to replace the archaic term “infant” with “minor” and to require an aided person who was a minor when legal aid was granted to him to make a fresh application for legal aid upon his attaining 21 years of age.
Clause 6 makes technical amendments to section 8 arising from the re‑naming of the legal aid certificate as a Grant of Aid.

Clause 7 amends section 9 relating to contributions payable by applicants for legal aid.

Under the amended section 9, contributions may be payable even before legal aid is granted as some work would have been done by the Legal Aid Bureau once an application for legal aid is made.

The cap on the amount of contributions payable has also been removed.
The amended section 9 also makes it clear that an applicant can be required to pay one or more contributions and that there will be a first charge on any property recovered or preserved for an aided person on any 19 portion of unpaid contributions.

A new section 9(6) empowers the Director to reduce, waive or refund the contribution payable in appropriate cases.
Clause 8 makes technical amendments to section 10 arising mainly from the re‑naming of the legal aid certificate and the expansion of the types of proceedings for which legal aid may be granted.

Clause 9 amends section 11(2) so that the choice of assigned solicitor for an aided person (where both parties are aided persons) will lie with the Director.

This is because the Director is better placed to select a suitable assigned solicitor for each aided case.
Clause 10 amends section 12 mainly to make technical amendments arising from the re‑naming of the legal aid certificate, to vest the choice of assigned solicitor for an aided person in the Director, to require a new Grant of Aid to be filed when a new or replacement assigned solicitor is appointed for an aided person and to exempt an aided person from paying bailiff fees and the deposit payable in respect of bankruptcy proceedings where legal aid has been granted to commence bankruptcy proceedings against a debtor.
The clause also clarifies that the Director may take legal proceedings in his own name in certain circumstances and when he does so, no Grant of Aid is required and he is exempted from the payment of certain fees and costs in connection with such proceedings, as if the proceedings were taken by an aided person.
Clause 11 amends section 13 mainly to replace the references to “legal aid certificate” with “Grant of Aid”, to enable amounts deposited by a legal aid applicant or an aided person with the Director to be used to pay any outstanding contributions (and not just out‑of‑pocket expenses incurred on his behalf).

Any remaining balance will be refunded to the legal aid applicant or aided person.
The clause also empowers the Director to require a legal aid applicant or an aided person in respect of whom any advance out of the funds in the control of the Director has been made for out‑of‑pocket expenses expended for his case to repay such advance.

Clause 12 makes technical amendments to section 14 arising mainly from the re‑naming of the legal aid certificate and the replacement of the term “judge” with “court” (as defined in clause 2).
Clause 13 makes a technical amendment to section 16(4) arising from the re‑naming of the legal aid certificate.

Clause 14 makes certain technical amendments to section 17.

The terms “proceedings” and “court” will now replace the references to “litigation” and “judge” wherever they appear in the section in light of the expansion of the type of proceedings for which legal aid may be granted.
The memorandum of notification of an application for legal aid to be filed in court will also simply be known as a notification.

20 Clause 15 repeals and re‑enacts section 18 so that an aided person who wishes to prosecute an appeal from proceedings which have been heard in court must make a fresh application for legal aid.

It would no longer suffice for a certificate to be issued by an assigned solicitor stating his opinion on the merits of the case.
The requirement that a fresh application for legal aid be made for appeal proceedings in respect of any interlocutory matter in any does not apply to an appeal proceedings.

Clause 16 amends section 20 to allow the amount of application fee to be prescribed in the regulations made under the Act and to make it clear that where the person desiring legal aid is a minor, the application must be made by his guardian.
Clause 17 repeals and re‑enacts section 21 to make it an offence for a person applying for or receiving legal aid or legal advice to knowingly make any false or misleading statement or representation in his application, to fail to make full and frank disclosure of his means or to fail to inform the Director of changes to his means or circumstances which may render the person ineligible for legal aid.

Previously, only the making of a false statement or representation was an offence.
Clause 18 amends section 22 to make technical amendments arising from the re‑naming of legal aid certificates and the new definition of “court” (which would now include a tribunal).

Clause 19 amends section 23(2) to enable the Minister to provide in the regulations the circumstances in which a Grant of Aid may be cancelled.

Clause 20 amends the First Schedule by expanding on the types of proceedings for which legal aid may be granted.
Clause 21 amends the Second Schedule to update and refine the means test.

Clause 22 contains savings and transitional provisions.

EXPENDITURE OF PUBLIC MONEY This Bill will involve the Government in extra financial expenditure, the exact amount of which cannot at present be ascertained.