| Department | Justice and Home Affairs |
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| Start date | 04/08/2021 |
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| End date | 29/09/2021 |
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| Type of consultation | Other |
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| Deadline for comments | 29/09/2021 |
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About the consultation
The Access to Justice (Jersey) Law 2019 requires the Legal Aid Guidelines Advisory Committee to advise and assist the Chief Minister in making Jersey's Legal Aid Scheme.
The membership of the Committee is:
- Advocate Adam Clarke (Chair and Judicial Greffier)
- Advocate Mark Temple QC (Attorney General)
- Aimee Crowder (Magistrate's Court Greffier)
- Advocate Simon Young (Bâtonnier)
- Advocate Rose Colley (President of the Law Society)
- Neville Benbow (Chief Executive of the Law Society)
- Peter Harris (Assistant Magistrate, Bailiff's nominee)
- Advocate Matthew Thompson (Master of the Royal Court, Bailiff's nominee)
- Dr Helen Miles (Chief Minister's nominee)
- Lisa Hart (Chief Minister's nominee)
- Deputy Montfort Tadier (States Assembly nominee)
- Deputy Kirsten Morel (States Assembly nominee)
The Committee has prepared a new proposed Legal Aid Scheme for Jersey which it has submitted as a recommendation to the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister is now consulting on the scheme being proposed by the Legal Aid Guidelines Advisory Committee and seeking the views of the public. The consultation will close on Tuesday 28 September 2021.
Proposed Legal Aid Scheme
The proposed new scheme would replace the scheme currently offered by the Law Society of Jersey and includes a number of changes for assessing who should be eligible for Legal Aid.
These include:
- assessing financial eligibility based on an individual’s capital and income levels, rather than based on their household capital and income levels
- removing the residency test for people applying for Public / Criminal Law Legal aid
- introducing a minimum 12 month resident test for Private / Civil Law Legal aid
- removing the requirement to pay contributions towards Public / Criminal Law Legal aid, and the introduction of an accredited panel of criminal lawyers to provide legal aid in criminal cases on a fixed fee basis
All applicants will be required to show that they meet the necessary financial and residency criteria depending on whether they are seeking Legal Aid for a Public / Criminal Law matter, or a Private / Civil Law matter. These are detailed in the proposed scheme, along with the areas of Public / Criminal and Private / Civil Law which are within the scope of the proposed Scheme.
Following the consultation, the scheme will be considered by the States Assembly. Provided the States Assembly do not object, the scheme will come into effect on 1 January 2022.
In addition to the link above, paper copies of the proposed Scheme are available, on request, from the States Greffe bookshop in Morier House, the Judicial Greffe in the Royal Court Building and Jersey Citizens Advice.
How to submit comments to the consultation
You can submit your views by:
If you would prefer to give your views over the phone or by another means, call +44 (0) 1534 440684 and you can speak to an official. Due to current working practices you may need to leave a message and we will call you back.
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