19—Determination and payment of legal assistance costs to
legal practitioners (other than Commission practitioners)
(1) A
legal practitioner assigned to provide legal assistance for an assisted person
is only entitled to be paid for professional legal work that the Director has
authorised to be performed.
(2) The
legal practitioner must provide the Commission with such accounts as
the Director may require.
(2a) The Director must
determine, in accordance with the scale, the fees for professional legal work
performed by the legal practitioner.
(3) The legal
practitioner may, within 1 month after receiving written notice of the
determination of the Director, appeal against the determination to the
Commission.
(4) On an appeal under
subsection (3), the Commission may affirm the determination of
the Director or vary the determination as it thinks fit.
(5) The Commission
must at such times as it thinks fit (being not less than twice in any year)
pay to legal practitioners who have been assigned to provide legal assistance
for assisted persons—
(a) the
disbursements and out-of-pocket expenses approved by the Director; and
(b) such
proportion of the balance of the legal assistance costs determined by
the Director under this section as the Commission thinks fit.
(6) The Commission may
make payments to a legal practitioner under subsection (5)(a) in respect
of legal assistance without concurrently making a payment under
subsection (5)(b) in respect of that legal assistance.
(7) Despite the
preceding subsections, the Commission may remunerate legal practitioners who
have been assigned to provide legal assistance for assisted persons—
(a) by
way of lump sum payments fixed in relation to the various categories of
professional legal work; or
(b) on
any other basis determined by the Commission after consultation with the
Legal Profession Reference Committee.
(8) This section does
not apply to Commission practitioners.