
1 

(1) These Regulations may be cited as the Civil Legal Aid (General) (Amendment No. 2) Regulations 1997 and shall come into force on 1st May 1997.
(2) In these Regulations, a regulation referred to by number alone means the regulation so numbered in the Civil Legal Aid (General) Regulations 1989.
2 
In the Arrangement of Regulations, after the title to regulation 26 “Power to notify other parties of application.”, there shall be inserted the following:—“
26A 
Meeting with a mediator in family matters.”.
3 
In regulation 3(1):—
(a) in the definition of “assessment officer” after the words “Secretary of State”, there shall be inserted the words “or the Board”; and
(b) after the definition of “patient”, there shall be inserted the following:—“
 “recognised mediator” means a mediator who is recognised by the Board for the purposes of conducting a meeting described in section 15 (3F) of the Act;”.
4 
After regulation 26, there shall be inserted the following regulation:—“
26A 
Subsection (3F) of section 15 of the Act shall not apply:—
(a) where there is no recognised mediator available to the applicant or any other party to the proceedings to hold a meeting under that subsection; or
(b) where:—
(i) the applicant is likely to fulfil the conditions under which legal aid may be granted under the Act and these Regulations;
(ii) it is in the interests of justice that the applicant should, as a matter of urgency, be granted legal aid; and
(iii) an application for an emergency certificate under regulation 19 has been made.”.
Mackay of Clashfern , C.
Dated 21st March 1997We consent,
Bowen Wells
Gyles Brandreth
Two of the Lords Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Treasury
Dated 24th March 1997