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Home
Legal aid guidance
Civil Guidance
Civil Legal Aid
Page contents:
What information will you be asked for?
Invoice format – what to include in your invoice to the solicitor
Why do we not normally cover costs associated with research?
Travel and other expenses
Cancellation fees
Availability of Civil legal aid and application procedures
Definition of civil legal aid
Applications by corporate or unincorporated bodies and sole traders
Courts and tribunals in which civil legal aid is available
Proceeding for which civil legal aid is not (or only partially) available: ‘excepted proceedings’
Civil legal aid: statutory tests for applications
Other rights or facilities
Civil legal aid for matters outwith Scotland
What date is legal aid effective from?
The essential components of a civil legal aid application: forms, statutory statements, declaration
Civil legal aid and the role of opponents
Civil legal aid applications: statements and other documents we need
Rejection of civil legal aid applications: consequences of missing information
Civil legal aid applications by someone unable to sign or suffering from a mental disorder
Civil legal aid applications by person resident outwith the UK
Civil legal aid application by or on behalf of children: assessing ‘general understanding’ of instructing a solicitor
Our power to modify or impose conditions on grants of legal aid
Refusal of legal aid applications
Applications for civil legal aid for proceedings where we are a party
Disputing information: what to send us if you are acting on behalf of your client who is the opponent
Financial assessment
Financial eligibility for civil legal aid: general conditions and limits
Choosing the right financial information form for the client
Civil legal aid assessment period and its consequences: ‘period of computation’
Taking partners’ financial resources into account: civil legal aid
Civil legal aid: how we calculate income and what’s included
Civil legal aid: assessment of capital resources and relevant disregards/allowances
Financial assessment where applicant has deprived themselves of resources: no disregards given
Calculating disposable capital and disregards: are the resources the subject matter of dispute?
Financial assessment for special categories of applicant
Appellate proceedings: is a fresh financial assessment and additional contribution necessary?
Adults With Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000: modified financial assessment process
Will my client be liable to pay a contribution?
Assessing probable cause and reasonableness
Overview of reasonableness factors
Timing of the application and the status of the dispute
Prospects of success
Cost and benefit analysis
Strategic impact or wider public interest of the case
Merits of different types of case
TOOL: find the merits guidance for your case
Cohabitee cases
Gender Recognition cases
Cases involving disputes over children
Matrimonial property disputes
Divorce – non-financial provision cases
Divorce – financial provision cases
Applications for legal aid by curators ad litem for children
Interdicts, power of arrest and non-harassment orders
Reparation cases
Petition for Judicial Review
Legal aid for judicial review of our decisions
Actions of payment
Actions of reduction
Caution
Safeguarders – Adults with Incapacity
Fatal Accident Inquiries
Appellate proceedings
Applications by children
Defamation
Mortgage rights proceedings – Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Act 2010
Actions in relation to private sector tenancies (including eviction proceedings in the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber))
Proceeds of Crime cases
Adults with Incapacity (AWI)
Modified application procedures
Civil legal aid for child abduction/custody cases: simplified application arrangements for Hague Convention and European Convention on the custody of children cases
Civil legal aid cases under the European judgements convention: modified application procedure
Civil legal aid cases under the Maintenance Orders: Reciprocal Enforcement
Legal aid and cross-border disputes within the European Union: modified application procedure
Civil legal aid for maintenance obligation cases under Council Regulations (EC) No. 4/2009: circumstances where no financial assessment required
Special urgency
Cover for work done before a decision on the legal aid application: the nature and types of special urgency
Special urgency: satisfying yourself that a client is financially eligible
List of circumstances in which you may undertake urgent work without prior approval
Arrangements for collection of your client’s contributions in special urgency: the client mandate
Assessment of special urgency applications: tests applied by us
Special urgency guidance: family cases
Rejected or continued applications for civil legal aid: limited circumstance in which special urgency is available
The importance of providing reasons for special urgency in the body of your application
Special urgency, expenses, and property recovered or preserved: circumstances where we may not be able to pay you
Status of your client under special urgency: contributions and requirement to provide financial information
Special urgency and extension or amendments to existing legal aid
Special urgency and sanction applications: usual sanction procedure applies
Special urgency and undertaking necessary collateral work: timing issues
Special urgency work’s status: issues your client to be aware where it is not a grant of legal aid
Special urgency situations where the client does not comply with our requests for information: potential effects
Special urgency: procedure for exemption from court fees
Cost limits
Cost limitations on grants of civil legal aid: how the limit is calculated and what is covered
The importance of monitoring your case costs: considering sufficient expenditure
Case cost limits: payments from the Fund and judicial expenses cases
Applying for funding beyond the standard cost limit: factors to be addressed
Seeking a review of the case cost limit applied: procedure and information to provide
Applying for an increase beyond the standard cost limit: procedure and information to provide
Increases in long running cases or with multiple legally-aided parties: our monitoring role
Situations in which retrospective authority for a case cost increase may be granted
TOOL: standard cost limit of your case
After a grant, and prior approval needed
After a grant: extensions or amendments to grants of civil legal aid
Key points about approval
Applying for approval before, during and after a grant of legal aid
Employment of counsel
Employment of expert witnesses
Instructing a medical or health professional
Practical guidance to give to witnesses
Practical guidance to give to experts
Practical guidance to give to shorthand writers
Work of an unusual nature or likely to involve unusually large expenditure
After a grant: prior approval and the execution of diligence
Stage reporting
Changes of nominated solicitor
TOOL: funding for child welfare report
TOOL: sanction required if not acting as an expert?
TOOL: find a template sanction
TOOL: common types of work involving unusually large expenditure or unusual work
Changes of circumstances and withdrawal of legal aid
Duty to report change of circumstances
Duty to report abuse of civil legal aid
Our power to amend financial assessment: potential scenarios
Suspension of civil legal aid: relevant scenarios and impact
Termination of civil legal aid on change of circumstances
Regulation 31: termination of legal aid where conduct of your client is incompatible with continued grant
Termination of legal aid in cases of false or incomplete information
High cost and complex cases
Civil cases subject to special arrangements: criteria for identifying high cost and/or complex cases
Dedicated contact from us in high cost/complex cases
Our role in identifying and avoiding duplication of work across high cost/complex civil cases
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