Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

“Iris Oifigiúil” of 21st May, 2021.

I, HEATHER HUMPHREYS, Minister for Justice, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 37 of the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 (No. 32 of 1995) and the Equality and Law Reform (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 1997 ( S.I. No. 297 of 1997 ) (as adapted by the Justice and Equality (Alteration of Name of Department and Title of Minister) Order 2020 ( S.I. No. 452 of 2020 )), hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 2021.

(2) The Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2017 and these Regulations may be cited together as the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 to 2021 and shall be construed together as one.

2. The Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996 ( S.I. No. 273 of 1996 ) are amended –

(a) in Regulation 3, by the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “applicant”:

“ ‘applicant’ has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 1995;”,

and

(b) in Regulation 13, by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (10):

“(11) The Board may provide legal aid to an applicant without reference to his or her financial resources if the legal aid to be provided to the applicant relates to an inquest to be held pursuant to a direction issued to the Dublin District Coroner on the 19th day of December 2019 into a death which occurred –

(a) at the premises known as ”Stardust“, situate at Kilmore Road, Artane, Dublin 5 on the 14th February 1981, or

(b) after that date as a result of injuries sustained at that premises on that date.”.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

18 May, 2021.

HEATHER HUMPHREYS,

Minister for Justice.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

The Civil Legal Aid Regulations 2021 will provide a statutory basis to allow for the provision of legal aid to the families of the 48 victims whose deaths resulted from the Stardust fire in 1981, irrespective of income eligibility or asset contribution limits. These regulations will only apply to the Stardust victims’ families in respect of the new inquests directed by the Attorney General on 19 December 2019.