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Legal Funding - Public (In Civil Law (if your gross income is below a set…
Legal Funding - Public
In Civil Law
legal aid comes from the Government's budget, they get a set amount each year
this has to be worked out alongside other areas such as health, education etc.
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since 2013, legal aid is not available in civil cases unless it is an areas specifically mentioned in the :black_flag: Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2013
e.g. children's rights, individual liberty, mental health, asylum
breach of contract cases cannot get public funding, nor tort claims
essentially, C must not have enough money to pay for their own lawyer
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if C receives income support or JSA, he automatically qualifies
if your gross income is below a set amount, your disposable income is then looked at
they remove: tax, national insurance, housing cost, childcare/maintenance, personal/dependants allowance
if you have £8k or above 'disposable' capital, you cannot have any LA
disposable capital = assets of the person (e.g. money in banks, jewellery etc.)
if you fall between the minimum and maximum, you have to pay a monthly fee
where a person owns a home, value of home is taken into account in deciding disposable capital, even if the person has a large mortgage
only first £100k is taken from value of home, means any person can be regarded as having too much disposable capital due to value of home, even if no spare money
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Criminal - Mags
as well as the above, the Mags Court defendant must also qualify under the 'in or out' scheme:
- eligible for legal aid (because of pass the means test)
- ineligible (failed the test) and must pay privately
the financial test levels are very low, which essentially means hardly any D qualifies for legal aid in the Mags court, if between 12-23 must pay some
those who are on income support, under 16 and those under 18 in full time education automatically pass means test
for everyone else, test starts with a first stage simple means test (calculated on gross annual income)
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Criminal - Crown
for worser crimes, therefore need more support
if D's case goes to the Crown, they are more likely to receive legal aid - there is no limit on disposable income
provided your disposable income is below £37,500 a year you will be entitled
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