Legal Aid South Africa Act, 2014 (Act No. 39 of 2014)Regulations33. Termination of legal aid |
| (1) | Legal Aid South Africa may terminate a legal aid recipient’s legal aid on account of the conduct of the legal aid recipient, which may include that the legal aid recipient— |
| (a) | ceases to qualify under the means test; |
| (b) | fails to appear in court timeously on the appointed day without giving a good reason for not appearing and a warrant for arrest has been issued; |
| (c) | unreasonably refuses to accept a settlement; |
| (d) | does not timeously comply with a contribution order as contemplated in regulation 32; |
| (e) | terminates the mandate of the instructed legal practitioner unreasonably and without good reason; or |
| (f) | makes it impossible for the instructed legal practitioner to carry out his or her mandate. |
| (2) | If legal aid is terminated Legal Aid South Africa may instruct a further legal practitioner after consideration of the facts of the case. |
| (3) | Legal aid may be terminated where the instructed legal practitioner withdraws or has his or her mandate terminated by Legal Aid South Africa for reasons that may include the following: |
| (a) | Ethical reasons; |
| (b) | the legal practitioner ceases to practise; |
| (c) | the legal practitioner ceases to be a Legal Aid South Africa accredited legal aid practitioner; |
| (d) | the legal practitioner is unable to continue to act because of ill-health or another cause that makes it impossible to carry out his or her obligations as a practitioner; or |
| (e) | the legal practitioner fails to proceed with the matter. |
| (4) | Where a legal practitioner’s mandate is terminated as contemplated in subregulation (3), Legal Aid South Africa may appoint another legal practitioner if the legal aid recipient continues to comply with the provisions of these regulations. |
| (5) | Legal Aid South Africa may terminate a legal aid recipient’s legal aid for reasons that may include the following: |
| (a) | A change in policy on the type of matters for which legal aid is available; |
| (b) | the suspension of legal aid in certain types of matters as a result of a lack of resources; or |
| (c) | the legal aid recipient gives just cause for the termination of the practitioner’s mandate. |
| (6) | Where Legal Aid South Africa terminates a recipient’s legal aid because of Legal Aid South Africa’s policies or resources, it must ensure that the legal aid recipient does not suffer any prejudice as a result of the termination. |
| (7) | In a civil legal aid case Legal Aid South Africa must withdraw legal aid if one or more of the following situations have arisen: |
| (a) | The applicant’s problem is trivial or is without sufficient grounds and is only instituted to cause annoyance; |
| (b) | the circumstances suggest that no real or substantial benefit will be achieved by the rendering of legal aid; |
| (c) | the legal costs involved would be out of proportion to the relief that the legal aid applicant wishes to get; or |
| (d) | considering all the circumstances of the case, legal aid should not have been granted for financial or other reasons. |