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#Work out who qualifies for civil legal aid - Detailed guidance.

Overview

The rules about who qualifies for legal aid are set out in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO) and regulations.

Lord Chancellor's guidance (under section 4 of LASPO) ( PDF. 565KB. 65 pages ) is also available to help determine who qualifies for legal aid.

You’ll need to consider:

• scope - whether the case is one for which legal aid is available
• merits - the likelihood of your client being successful
• means - your client’s financial eligibility

Civil Legal Advice

You should direct clients with debt, discrimination or education problems - who need initial advice and assistance (known as legal help) - to the Civil Legal Advice (CLA) service unless they’re exempt as set out in part 2 of the Civil Legal Aid Procedure Regulations 2012. Find more information in CLA provider guidance. Leaflets for members of the public and guidance for advice practitioners are available to download below.

Scope

You can only provide civil legal aid to cover specific types of civil dispute as set out in Schedule 1, LASPO. For further guidance on the legal aid reform changes read Legal aid reform frequently asked questions ( PDF. 479KB. 24 pages ) .

Legal aid may be available in other exceptional circumstances: you can make an application to the exceptional case funding team. Read more guidance on exceptional case funding. Your client must still meet the merits and means criteria.

For further guidance please read Scope of family proceedings under LASPO ( PDF. 255KB. 3 pages ) .

Merits

You must consider the merits of the case including the likelihood of success and benefit to the client before you make an application on behalf of your client. Merits are covered in full in Civil Legal Aid (Merits Criteria) Regulations 2013 .

Information is also available in Lord Chancellor’s guidance (see above).

Means

In most cases you’ll also need to complete a financial eligibility check on your client to see if they qualify for legal aid as set out in Civil Legal Aid (Financial Resources and Payment for Services) Regulations 2013.

Read more guidance on civil legal aid means testing and financial eligibility.

Civil legal aid calculator

Calculate if your client qualifies for civil legal aid. then print and complete the correct forms identified by the calculator. (You should use the online calculator instead of making manual calculations where possible.)