Legal Assistance Act Amendment Act 1975 (Qld)

12 Q lte£2tsI1txt r ANNO VICESIMO QUARTO ELIZABETHAE SECUNDAE REGINAE No. 6 of 1975 An Act to amend the Legal Assistance Act 1965-1971 in certain particulars [ASSENTED TO IST MAY, 19751 BE IT ENACTED by the Queen ' s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland in Parliament assembled , and by the authority of the same , as follows:- 1. Title and citation . (1) This Act may be cited as the Legal Assistance Act Amendment Act 1975. (2) The Legal Assistance Act 1965-1971 is, in this Act , referred to as the Principal Act. (3) The Principal Act as amended by this Act may be cited as the Legal Assistance Act 1965-1975.

Legal Assistance Act Amendment Act 1975, No. 6 13 2. Amendment of s. 10. Solicitors , Trost Bank Amts, etc. Section 10 of the Principal Act is amended- (a) by inserting, after subsection (2B), the following subsection:- " (2c) If at any time during the relevant year two-thirds of the aggregate of- (a) the amount (if any) standing upon deposit by the solicitor with the Society in accordance with subsection (2); and (b) the balance in his trust bank account or, where he maintains more than one trust bank account, the aggregate of the balances in his trust bank accounts, excluding any accounts that were maintained for the exclusive benefit of a specific person or specific persons, is less than the sum that is the minimum sum that the solicitor is required to deposit and keep deposited with the Society in order to comply with the provisions of subsection (2), the solicitor is deemed,. in relation to the relevant year, to have complied with those provisions if- (c) until that condition ceases; or (d) until, on each of thirty- consecutive' days, two-thirds of the aggregate of the amount and balance, or balances, specified in paragraphs (a) or (b) equals or exceeds the sum that the solicitor is required to deposit and keep deposited with the Society in order to comply with the provisions of the said subsection, whichever last occurs, the sum deposited and kept deposited by the solicitor with the Society is a sum that is not less than two-thirds of the aggregate of- (e) the amount (if any) standing upon deposit by the solicitor with the Society in accordance with subsection (2) on the day of the lowest balance, or lowest aggregate of balances, concerned; and (f) the amount that was the lowest balance in his trust bank account on any day during the period of thirty days ending on the day in question or, where he maintains more than one trust bank account, the lowest aggregate on any day during that period of the balances in his trust bank accounts, excluding any accounts that were maintained for the exclusive benefit of a specific person or specific persons."; and (b) by omitting from subsection (4) the words " at the short term deposit bank interest rate as approved by the Reserve Bank of Australia for the time being " and substituting the words " at such rate as may be negotiated by the Society but not less than the prescribed minimum rate (if any) ". . 3. Amendment of s. 25. Costs awarded to assisted person . Section 25 of the Principal Act is amended by omitting subsection (1) and substituting the following subsection:- " (1) (a) In any proceedings in connection with which legal aid is provided for any person, the court may make in favour of the assisted person at any stage of the proceedings any such

14 Legal Assistance Act Amendment Act 1975, No. 6 order for, or in respect of, costs incurred or to be incurred, including security for costs, as it could make in his favour if he was not a person for whom legal aid has been or is being provided in connection with the proceedings notwithstanding that no amount has been paid or is or will be payable for costs by the assisted person or that the costs so ordered, in the case of an order for costs , are in excess of the total amount paid or payable by him for costs. (b) An order to which paragraph (a) relates shall not be refused in any case in which the order would have been made if the person in whose favour the order is sought was not an assisted person."