{"id":"legal-aid-regulations-1990","name":"LEGAL AID REGULATIONS 1990","slug":"legal-aid-regulations-1990","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"nt","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":176931,"registerId":"nt-legal-aid-regulations-1990-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"LEGAL AID REGULATIONS 1990","content":"NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\nLEGAL AID REGULATIONS 1990\nAs in force at 12 December 1990\nTable of provisions\nPart I Preliminary\n1 Citation ............................................................................................ 1\nPart IA Commission\n1A Election of staff member appointment as Commissioner ................. 1\nPart II Legal Aid Committees\n2 Interpretation ................................................................................... 2\n3 Tenure of office................................................................................ 2\n4 Chairman of Legal Aid Committee ................................................... 3\n5 Resignation...................................................................................... 3\n6 Removal from office ......................................................................... 3\n7 Meetings of Legal Aid Committee .................................................... 3\n8 Interests to be disclosed .................................................................. 4\nPart III Review Committees\n9 Interpretation ................................................................................... 4\n10 Tenure of office................................................................................ 4\n11 Resignation...................................................................................... 4\n12 Removal from office ......................................................................... 5\n13 Meetings of Review Committee ....................................................... 5\n14 Interests to be disclosed .................................................................. 5\nENDNOTES\n\n\n\nNORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA\n____________________\nAs in force at 12 December 1990\n____________________\nLEGAL AID REGULATIONS 1990\nRegulations under the Legal Aid Act 1990\nPart I Preliminary\n1 Citation\nThese Regulations may be cited as the Legal Aid Regulations\n1990.\nPart IA Commission\n1A Election of staff member appointment as Commissioner\n(1) For the purposes of section 6(1)(f) of the Act the election of a\nperson by the staff of the Commission to be appointed as a\nCommissioner shall be conducted as follows:\n(a) whenever the occasion for the election arises the Director\nshall, in writing, advise all staff members then employed of\nthat fact and that they are entitled to be nominated as, or to\nnominate another member as, a candidate for election and to\nvote at the election;\n(b) nominations of candidates shall close on the date specified in\nthe advice under paragraph (a), being not earlier than 5 days\nafter the date of the advice, and shall:\n(i) be in writing and sent to the Director to be received by\nthe Director before that closing date;\n(ii) be signed by the person nominating; and\n(iii) indicate by the signature of the person nominated that\nthe person accepts the nomination;\n(c) as soon as practicable after the closing date for nominations,\nthe Director shall send to each staff member a ballot-paper, in\nsuch form as the Director thinks fit, listing in alphabetical order\nthe names of the candidates for election and indicating a date,\n\nPart II Legal Aid Committees\nLegal Aid Regulations 1990 2\nbeing not earlier than 5 days after the date on which the ballot-\npaper was sent, on which the votes should be received by the\nDirector;\n(d) a vote shall be recorded on the ballot-paper by the person\nvoting indicating his or her choice of candidate by placing a\ncross against the name of one candidate only;\n(e) the Director shall advise each candidate for election of the\ntime and place where the votes will be counted and each\ncandidate may attend at the counting in person or be\nrepresented by a member of the staff nominated by him or her\nfor that purpose;\n(f) the counting of votes shall be on the \"first-past-the-post\"\nsystem and shall be conducted by the Director in such manner\nas the Director thinks fit;\n(g) if more than one candidate has received an equal number of\nthe most votes after counting is completed a further election\nshall be held between those candidates as if they were the\nonly candidates nominated for election, and this regulation,\nwith the necessary changes, applies accordingly;\n(h) at the conclusion of the counting of votes where a clear winner\nis determined, the Director shall declare the winning candidate\nto be the elected candidate and, as soon as practicable,\nadvise the Minister of the winner's name.\n(2) At an election under subregulation (1) the Director may vote but\nmay not nominate or be nominated a candidate.\n(3) An election under this regulation shall be by secret ballot.\nPart II Legal Aid Committees\n2 Interpretation\nIn this Part, unless the contrary intention appears:\nChairman means a person elected to be Chairman pursuant to\nregulation 4(a) or (b).\nmember means a member of a Legal Aid Committee.\n3 Tenure of office\nA member, other than the Director, holds office, subject to this Part,\nfor one year, but is eligible for re-appointment.\n\nPart II Legal Aid Committees\nLegal Aid Regulations 1990 3\n4 Chairman of Legal Aid Committee\nThe members of a Legal Aid Committee shall elect:\n(a) one of their number to be the Chairman of the Committee; and\n(b) another of their number to preside at meetings at which the\nChairman is not present.\n5 Resignation\nA member, other than the Director, may resign his or her office by\nwriting signed by him or her and given to the Commission.\n6 Removal from office\n(1) The Commission may remove a member, other than the Director,\nfrom office for misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity.\n(2) If a member, other than the Director:\n(a) becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of a law for the\nrelief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his or\nher creditors or makes an assignment of his or her\nremuneration for their benefit;\n(b) is absent, except by leave of the Committee from\n3 consecutive meetings of a Legal Aid Committee; or\n(c) fails to comply with his or her obligations under regulation 8,\nthe Commission shall remove the member from office.\n7 Meetings of Legal Aid Committee\n(1) A Legal Aid Committee shall hold such meetings as are necessary\nfor the performance of its functions.\n(2) Meetings of a Legal Aid Committee shall be convened at any time\nby the Chairman or, if for any reason the Chairman is unavailable,\nby the person elected under regulation 4(b) to preside at meetings\nat which the Chairman is not present.\n(3) At a meeting of a Legal Aid Committee, 3 members constitute a\nquorum.\n(4) The Chairman shall preside at all meetings of the Committee at\nwhich he or she is present, and if the Chairman is not present the\nmember elected under regulation 4(b) shall preside.\n\nPart III Review Committees\nLegal Aid Regulations 1990 4\n(5) Questions arising at a meeting of a Legal Aid Committee shall be\ndetermined by a majority of the votes of members present and\nvoting.\n(6) The member presiding at a meeting of a Legal Aid Committee has a\ndeliberative vote and, in the event of an equality of votes, has a\ncasting vote.\n(7) A Legal Aid Committee may regulate the conduct of proceedings at\nits meetings as it thinks fit and shall cause minutes of the\nproceedings to be kept.\n8 Interests to be disclosed\n(1) A member who has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a matter\nconsidered or about to be considered by a Legal Aid Committee,\notherwise than as a member of, and in common with the other\nmembers of, an incorporated company consisting of more than\n25 persons and of which the member is not a director shall, as soon\nas possible after the relevant facts have come to his or her\nknowledge, disclose the nature of his or her interest at a meeting of\nthe Committee.\n(2) A disclosure under subregulation (1) shall be recorded in the\nminutes of the meeting and the member shall not be present during\na deliberation of a Legal Aid Committee with respect to the matter.\nPart III Review Committees\n9 Interpretation\nIn this Part, unless the contrary intention appears:\nChairman means the person appointed to be the Chairman of a\nReview Committee under section 37(2) of the Act.\nmember means a member of a Review Committee.\n10 Tenure of office\nA member holds office, subject to this Part, for one year, but is\neligible for re-appointment.\n11 Resignation\nA member may resign his or her office by writing signed by him or\nher and given to the Commission.\n\nPart III Review Committees\nLegal Aid Regulations 1990 5\n12 Removal from office\n(1) The Commission may remove a member of a Review Committee\nfrom office for misbehaviour or physical or mental incapacity.\n(2) If a member:\n(a) becomes bankrupt, applies to take the benefit of a law for the\nrelief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors, compounds with his or\nher creditors or makes an assignment of his or her\nremuneration for their benefit;\n(b) is absent, except by leave of the Committee, from\n3 consecutive meetings of the Review Committee; or\n(c) fails to comply with his or her obligations under regulation 14,\nthe Commission shall remove him or her from office.\n13 Meetings of Review Committee\n(1) A Review Committee shall hold such meetings as are necessary for\nthe performance of its function.\n(2) Meetings of a Review Committee shall be convened by the\nChairman or, if for any reason the Chairman is unavailable, by\nanother member of the Committee.\n(3) At a meeting of a Review Committee, 3 members constitute a\nquorum.\n(4) Questions arising at a meeting of a Review Committee shall be\ndetermined by a majority of the votes of members present and\nvoting.\n(5) A Review Committee may regulate the conduct of proceedings at\nits meetings as it thinks fit and shall cause minutes of the\nproceedings to be kept.\n14 Interests to be disclosed\n(1) A member who has a direct or indirect pecuniary interest in a matter\nconsidered or about to be considered by a Review Committee,\notherwise than as a member of, and in common with the other\nmembers of, an incorporated company consisting of more than\n25 persons and of which the member is not a director shall, as soon\nas possible after the relevant facts have come to his or her\nknowledge, disclose the nature of his or her interest at a meeting of\nthe Committee.\n\nPart III Review Committees\nLegal Aid Regulations 1990 6\n(2) A disclosure under subregulation (1) shall be recorded in the\nminutes of the meeting of the Review Committee and the member\nshall not be present during a deliberation of the Committee with\nrespect to the matter.\n(3) A member who made, or participated in the making of, a decision\nthat is to be reviewed by the Review Committee shall not be\npresent during a deliberation of the Review Committee with respect\nto the decision.\n\nENDNOTES\nLegal Aid Regulations 1990 7\nENDNOTES\n1 KEY\nKey to abbreviations\namd = amended od = order\napp = appendix om = omitted\nbl = by-law pt = Part\nch = Chapter r = regulation/rule\ncl = clause rem = remainder\ndiv = Division renum = renumbered\nexp = expires/expired rep = repealed\nf = forms s = section\nGaz = Gazette sch = Schedule\nhdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision\nins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation\nlt = long title sub = substituted\nnc = not commenced\n2 LIST OF LEGISLATION\nLegal Aid (Committees) Regulations (SL No. 16, 1990)\nNotified 29 June 1990\nCommenced 29 June 1990\nAmendment of Legal Aid (Committees) Regulations (SL No. 50, 1990)\nNotified 12 December 1990\nCommenced 12 December 1990\n3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS\nGeneral amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table\nof amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation\nAmendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22 of 2018) to: r 1.\n4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS\npt 1A hdg ins No. 50, 1990, r 2\nr 1A ins No. 50, 1990, r 2","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"The Regulations were amended to add a detailed staff‑election procedure for appointing a Commissioner (Part IA / r 1A, ins. No. 50, 1990). That insertion expands procedural detail about nominations, secret ballot conduct and Director powers while retaining the existing administrative framework for committee tenure, meetings, disclosures and removals."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple short, repeating procedural rules across Parts for different bodies (tenure, meetings, resignation) (regs 3, 10, 7, 13).","Election procedure for staff‑appointed Commissioner grants administrative discretion to the Director over ballot form, timing and counting method (r 1A(c),(e),(f)).","Secret ballot and first‑past‑the‑post counting create concrete rules but allow operational flexibility in counting (r 1A(3), r 1A(1)(f)).","Removal provisions mix discretionary grounds (misbehaviour, incapacity) with mandatory triggers (bankruptcy, absences, failure to disclose) requiring factual assessment (regs 6(1),(2); 12(1),(2)).","Conflict‑of‑interest rules impose disclosure and exclusion duties and require minute‑keeping and abstention from deliberations (regs 8(1)–(2); 14(1)–(3)).","Meeting governance includes fixed quorum, majority decision‑making and casting vote rules that affect outcomes in small bodies (regs 7(3),(5)–(6); 13(3)–(4)).","Cross‑references to the Legal Aid Act (eg. s 6(1)(f), s 37(2)) create external legal dependencies and potential interpretation questions (r 1A heading; Part III heading).","Amendment history (insertion of Part IA) changes procedure scope and must be tracked for current practice (Endnotes; r 1A ins No. 50, 1990)."],"plain_english_summary":"These Regulations set out procedural rules for the Legal Aid Commission’s committees and for electing a staff‑nominated Commissioner. They prescribe how staff nominations and a secret ballot are run, terms of office, resignation and removal grounds, meeting quorums and voting, and disclosure/exclusion rules for pecuniary interests. They affect Commission staff, Legal Aid and Review Committee members and the Director (who administers elections), and matter because they determine who decides, how votes are cast and counted, and the compliance duties of members."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations remain tightly focused on their original purpose: establishing procedural rules for committee operations and staff elections. The single amendment (Part IA) added the staff election mechanism, which is directly related to the Commission's governance structure under the parent Act. No scope creep detected."},"complexity_factors":["Straightforward procedural structure with only 14 regulations across 3 Parts","Minimal cross-referencing (only references to section 6(1)(f) and section 37(2) of the parent Act)","Only 4 defined terms across the entire instrument ('Chairman' and 'member' in Parts II and III)","Simple conditional logic - mostly 'if X then Y' removal triggers without nesting","Substantial duplication between Part II (Legal Aid Committees) and Part III (Review Committees) - nearly identical provisions for tenure, resignation, removal, meetings, and disclosure","Single amendment incorporated (Part IA added in 1990), showing limited evolutionary complexity"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set out the administrative rules for how the Northern Territory's legal aid system operates. They cover three main areas:\n\n**1. Electing a staff representative to the Commission**\n- Legal aid staff can elect one of their own to serve as a Commissioner (a board member) on the Legal Aid Commission\n- The election process involves nominations, secret ballots, and \"first-past-the-post\" counting (whoever gets the most votes wins)\n- The Director of Legal Aid runs the election but can't run as a candidate\n\n**2. Legal Aid Committees**\n- These committees make decisions about who gets legal aid and how cases are handled\n- Members serve one-year terms but can be re-appointed\n- They elect their own Chair and deputy Chair\n- Members can be removed for misconduct, bankruptcy, missing 3 meetings in a row, or failing to disclose conflicts of interest\n- Meetings need 3 members present to make decisions (this is called a \"quorum\")\n- Members must disclose any financial interests in matters being discussed and leave the room during those discussions\n\n**3. Review Committees**\n- These committees hear appeals when someone disagrees with a decision made by a Legal Aid Committee\n- Similar rules apply: one-year terms, removal grounds, meeting procedures\n- Extra rule: anyone who made the original decision can't be present when it's being reviewed\n\n**Why this matters:** These rules ensure legal aid decisions are made fairly, transparently, and without conflicts of interest. They give staff a voice in governance through elections, and provide a clear process for reviewing disputed decisions."},"summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Insufficient content is available to determine whether the scope of the regulations changed from the original intent. The document contains only administrative metadata and no operative provisions to analyse."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely limited substantive content provided — the document consists almost entirely of metadata headers with no actual regulatory text visible","Without the full text, the true complexity of the underlying rules cannot be assessed","Regulations of this type typically involve means testing criteria and procedural rules which can be moderately complex, but none of that detail is present here","The document structure appears to be a formatting or extraction error, with repeated headings and no substantive provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set out the practical, administrative rules for delivering legal aid under the parent Legal Aid Act — covering eligibility, application and how legal aid is administered. They affect people who cannot afford lawyers, the lawyers and firms who provide funded services, and the Legal Aid commissions that run the scheme.\n\nThey matter because they govern access to representation in vital areas like family, criminal and housing law. Note: the source provided is mostly metadata, so this summary reflects the instrument’s scope rather than its full text."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/legal-aid-regulations-1990","history":"/api/acts/legal-aid-regulations-1990/history","analysis":"/api/acts/legal-aid-regulations-1990/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/legal-aid-regulations-1990/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/legal-aid-regulations-1990/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/legal-aid-regulations-1990/documents"}}