Britain: An official handbook > 1966

96
BRITAIN: AN OFFICIAL HANDBOOK
Legal Aid in
Civil Cases
Legal Aid in
Criminal
Courts
or to defend a legal right, and also to make the facilities already available in
criminal proceedings more easily accessible to those who needed them.
The scheme established by the Act of 1949 for providing legal aid in civil
matters has been gradually brought into operation, until today legal aid is
available for nearly all types of civil proceedings in nearly all courts of law.
It is also available for oral legal advice and in certain circumstances where
the assistance of a lawyer is needed but which do not (or do not yet) involve
litigation.
Free legal aid in civil cases is available to persons with very small incomes and
capital, and contributory legal aid to those in higher income and capital
groups. The majority of people are financially eligible for legal aid.
The legal aid scheme in England and Wales is run by the Law Society under
the general guidance of the Lord Chancellor. It is operated by 12 area
committees and a network of local committees composed of barristers and
solicitors (who may be paid a fee), with a salaried staff. The cost is met from
the Legal Aid Fund, drawn from three sources: contributions from assisted
persons; costs recovered from opposite parties in litigation; and a grant from
the Exchequer.
Applicants for free legal aid must show that they have reasonable grounds
for asserting or disputing a claim. A successful applicant is allowed to select
from a panel a solicitor who, if necessary, instructs a barrister, and the case
is then conducted in the ordinary way. Certain types of action, including
libel and slander, are excluded from the scheme.
In Scotland the legal aid scheme is administered by the Law Society of
Scotland through a supervisory central committee, the Supreme Court
committee and sixteen local committees. To obtain legal aid for litigation an
applicant is required to show ‘probable cause’ and produce in support of his
application a statement corroborated according to the requirements of
Scottish law. Assistance is available in connection with appeals to the House
of Lords from the Court of Session, in civil proceedings before the Court of
Session, the Lands Valuation Appeal Court and the sheriff courts and in
matters not involving litigation. Where litigation is not involved, the applicant
must show he has reasonable grounds for taking the proposed legal action.
Free legal aid is available in the criminal courts in England and Wales1 under
the Poor Prisoners’ Defence Act 1930, which provides for the granting of
either a legal aid certificate which entitles the recipient to the services of a
solicitor (or, in the case of a preliminary inquiry into a charge of murder, of
a solicitor and counsel) in defending a charge heard summarily or at committal
proceedings in indictable cases, or a defence certificate which provides both
solicitor and counsel in a trial on indictment. The granting of these certificates
is in the discretion of the justices or judge before whom the applicant is to be
tried, except in the case of a person committed for trial on a charge of murder,
when a defence certificate must be granted if the defendant has insufficient
means.
Free legal aid for an appeal to quarter sessions is provided for in the
Summary Jurisdiction (Appeals) Act 1933, which lays down that, in proper
cases, an appeal aid certificate may be granted by a magistrates’ court or
quarter sessions. The granting of legal aid appeals to the Court of Criminal
1 The system of legal aid in criminal proceedings is under review by a departmental
committee.