Commentary on Sections Schedule 29 – Minor and consequential amendments: Northern Ireland Paragraph 116 – Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 (S.I. 2003/ 435 (N.I. 10))
1159.Article 39 of the Access to Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2003 provides that family proceedings cannot be the subject of an enforceable conditional fee agreement. This paragraph amends the definition of “family proceedings” for the purposes of Article 39 to include certain proceedings under the Civil Partnership Act 2004.
1160.Paragraph 2(d) of Schedule 2 to the 2003 Order sets out various proceedings (including proceedings under the Domestic Proceedings (Northern Ireland) Order 1980) in relation to which the Northern Ireland legal services commission may fund representation services. Paragraph 116 amends Schedule 2 to the 2003 to include proceedings under the Civil Partnership Act 2004 corresponding to those under the 1980 Order.