Access to Justice Act 1999
1999 c. 22
An Act to establish the Legal Services Commission, the Community Legal Service and the Criminal Defence Service; to amend the law of legal aid in Scotland; to make further provision about legal services; to make provision about appeals, courts, judges and court proceedings; to amend the law about magistrates and magistrates’ courts; and to make provision about immunity from action and costs and indemnities for certain officials exercising judicial functions.
[27th July 1999]
Be it enacted by the Queen’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
(1) For section 58 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 substitute—
Conditional fee agreements.
58 (1) A conditional fee agreement which satisfies all of the conditions applicable to it by virtue of this section shall not be unenforceable by reason only of its being a conditional fee agreement; but (subject to subsection (5)) any other conditional fee agreement shall be unenforceable.
(2) For the purposes of this section and section 58A—
(a) a conditional fee agreement is an agreement with a person providing advocacy or litigation services which provides for his fees and expenses, or any part of them, to be payable only in specified circumstances; and
(b) a conditional fee agreement provides for a success fee if it provides for the amount of any fees to which it applies to be increased, in specified circumstances, above the amount which would be payable if it were not payable only in specified circumstances.
(3) The following conditions are applicable to every conditional fee agreement—
(a) it must be in writing;
(b) it must not relate to proceedings which cannot be the subject of an enforceable conditional fee agreement; and
(c) it must comply with such requirements (if any) as may be prescribed by the Lord Chancellor.
(4) The following further conditions are applicable to a conditional fee agreement which provides for a success fee—
(a) it must relate to proceedings of a description specified by order made by the Lord Chancellor;
(b) it must state the percentage by which the amount of the fees which would be payable if it were not a conditional fee agreement is to be increased; and
(c) that percentage must not exceed the percentage specified in relation to the description of proceedings to which the agreement relates by order made by the Lord Chancellor.
(5) If a conditional fee agreement is an agreement to which section 57 of the Solicitors Act 1974 (non-contentious business agreements between solicitor and client) applies, subsection (1) shall not make it unenforceable.
Conditional fee agreements: supplementary.
58A (1) The proceedings which cannot be the subject of an enforceable conditional fee agreement are—
(a) criminal proceedings, apart from proceedings under section 82 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990; and
(b) family proceedings.
(2) In subsection (1) “family proceedings” means proceedings under any one or more of the following—
(a) the Matrimonial Causes Act 1973;
(b) the Adoption Act 1976;
(c) the Domestic Proceedings and Magistrates’ Courts Act 1978;
(d) Part III of the Matrimonial and Family Proceedings Act 1984;
(e) Parts I, II and IV of the Children Act 1989;
(f) Part IV of the Family Law Act 1996; and
(g) the inherent jurisdiction of the High Court in relation to children.
(3) The requirements which the Lord Chancellor may prescribe under section 58(3)(c)—
(a) include requirements for the person providing advocacy or litigation services to have provided prescribed information before the agreement is made; and
(b) may be different for different descriptions of conditional fee agreements (and, in particular, may be different for those which provide for a success fee and those which do not).
(4) In section 58 and this section (and in the definitions of “advocacy services” and “litigation services” as they apply for their purposes) “proceedings” includes any sort of proceedings for resolving disputes (and not just proceedings in a court), whether commenced or contemplated.
(5) Before making an order under section 58(4), the Lord Chancellor shall consult—
(a) the designated judges;
(b) the General Council of the Bar;
(c) the Law Society; and
(d) such other bodies as he considers appropriate.
(6) A costs order made in any proceedings may, subject in the case of court proceedings to rules of court, include provision requiring the payment of any fees payable under a conditional fee agreement which provides for a success fee.
(7) Rules of court may make provision with respect to the assessment of any costs which include fees payable under a conditional fee agreement (including one which provides for a success fee).
(2) In section 120(4) of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (orders and regulations subject to affirmative procedure), for “58,” substitute “ 58(4), ”.
In section 51 of the Senior Courts Act 1981(costs), in subsection (2) (rules regulating matters relating to costs), insert at the end “ or for securing that the amount awarded to a party in respect of the costs to be paid by him to such representatives is not limited to what would have been payable by him to them if he had not been awarded costs. ”
32 Regulations about financial limits in certain proceedings.
In section 9(2) of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 (application by regulations of Part II to assistance by way of representation), after paragraph (d) insert—
(dd) provide that assistance by way of representation shall be available in relation to such proceedings as may be prescribed, without reference to the financial limits under section 8 of this Act;
(de) provide that section 11(2) of this Act shall not apply as respects assistance by way of representation received in relation to such proceedings as may be prescribed;
.
34 References by Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.
In section 25(7) of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 (legal aid in appeals), for “Secretary of State under section 124” substitute “ Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission under section 194B ”.