Suspension of civil legal aid: relevant scenarios and impact

Regulation 29 of the Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) Regulations 2002 gives us power to suspend legal aid for up to 90 days in certain circumstances:

  • When your client is in arrears of contribution.
  • Where your client has not provided necessary information or documents .
  • Where, following a re-assessment of your client’s financial circumstances it has been found that they have income or capital that exceed the upper limits and, as a result we are considering the termination of the grant of legal aid.
  • When we have to consider whether, based on information received, legal aid should be terminated because your client no longer has probable cause.
  • Because your client has made an untrue statement to us or has failed to disclose information.

During any period of suspension legal aid is not available. Work you do during a suspension cannot be charged under legal aid, even if legal aid is again made available after the period of suspension.

Our power to amend financial assessment: potential scenarios
Termination of civil legal aid on change of circumstances

In this section

Changes of circumstances and withdrawal of legal aid

Duty to report change of circumstances

Read about the duty to report change of circumstances, including examples of changes and the implications of not providing this information.

Changes of circumstances and withdrawal of legal aid

Duty to report abuse of civil legal aid

Find out about various scenarios that may comprise an abuse of civil legal aid, the duty to inform us, and client confidentiality in these circumstances.

Changes of circumstances and withdrawal of legal aid

Our power to amend financial assessment: potential scenarios

Find out about the different circumstances in which we may amend the initial financial assessment, and potential contribution implications.

Changes of circumstances and withdrawal of legal aid

Termination of civil legal aid on change of circumstances

Read about changes in client circumstances that may cause us to terminate legal aid, and implications for the assisted person’s status and contribution.

Changes of circumstances and withdrawal of legal aid

Regulation 31: termination of legal aid where conduct of your client is incompatible with continued grant

Find out about termination of legal aid based on client conduct, as well as other possible reasons for termination of legal aid.

Changes of circumstances and withdrawal of legal aid

Termination of legal aid in cases of false or incomplete information

Read about our power to terminate legal aid where the client provides false or incomplete information and the consequences for the recovery of outlays.