CONTRACTS Citation and commencement 1 This Order may be cited as the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) (Legal Aid Exceptions) Order 1998 and shall come into force on 1st November 1998. Interpretation 2 1 In this Order– “the 1998 Act ” means the Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998 ; “the 1988 Act ” means the Legal Aid Act 1988 ; and “legal aid contract” means a contract made pursuant to the 1988 Act by the Legal Aid Board with another person or body (in this Order referred to as “the service provider”) for the provision of one or more of the following services, that is to say, advice, assistance, mediation or representation under Part II, III , IIIA, IV or V of the 1988 Act . 2 In this Order, “advice”, “assistance”, “mediation”, “person” and “representation” have the same meanings as in the 1988 Act . Exception for certain Legal Aid contracts 3 1 A contract of a description specified in paragraph (2) below which is made whilst this Order is in force is an excepted contract for the purposes of section 2 of the 1998 Act. 2 The specified description of contract is a legal aid contract under which the amount of the charges and fees payable are, or are the same as, those provided by regulations made under section 34(2)(e) of the 1988 Act . 3 For the purposes of paragraph (2) above, the charges and fees payable under any legal aid contract may be taken to be, or to be the same as, those provided for in such regulations notwithstanding that– a such regulations make provision in relation to remuneration and payment for contracts of the description to which that legal aid contract belongs different from the provision made for remuneration and payment applicable to services of the same description where no legal aid contract is in force ; or b it is provided (however worded, and whether by that legal aid contract, or by such regulations in respect of contracts of a description to which that legal aid contract belongs) that– i the total of the amounts which may be paid in respect of any period of time shall not exceed a limit; or ii amounts may be paid on account either at times, or subject to limits, different from the times or limits applicable under such regulations to services of the same description where no legal aid contract is in force; or iii in the event of termination of the legal aid contract, or any contract schedule thereto, provisions relating to payment shall apply different from the provisions which apply whilst the legal aid contract, or contract schedule as the case may be, is in force. 4 In paragraph 3(b)(iii) above– “contract schedule” means the provisions of a legal aid contract which relate to the descriptions of services which may be provided pursuant to a legal aid contract by a particular office of the service provider; and “provisions relating to payment” means provisions relating to the amounts of the charges and fees, the limit in respect of any period of time, the times at which payments on account may be made or the limits to which payments on account are subject. Kim Howells Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Competition and Consumer Affairs, Department of Trade and Industry 3rd October 1998