Termination of legal aid in cases of false or incomplete information

Under Regulation 33 of the Children’s Legal Assistance (Scotland) Regulations 2013, we may stop legal aid where, after allowing an opportunity for your client to submit representations, we are satisfied that your client has:

• Made an untrue statement about their resources.
• Failed to disclose any material fact about them.
• Wilfully failed to comply with the regulations by not supplying material information about anything other than their resources.
• Knowingly made an untrue statement in supplying such information.

In any of these circumstances, and whether or not legal aid is terminated, we have the right to recover the whole sums paid from the Fund from your client.

In addition, your client:

• Cannot use the special urgency provisions in Regulation 18 of the 2013 Regulations or indeed get legal aid, in relation to any later stages of the same proceedings in the same court.
• Is not entitled to legal aid in any appellate proceedings unless we consider there is special reason to make legal aid available for these.

In terms of Section 35 of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986, your client is guilty of an offence if they seek legal aid and:

• Wilfully fail to comply with any regulations about the information they must provide.
• Knowingly make any false statement or false representation.

Our Investigations Unit will report direct to the procurator fiscal cases where it appears that there has been a contravention of section 35 of the 1986 Act.