General principles applying to waivers of costs

The following principles have been agreed by the Board:

• hardship is to be considered by reference to the position of the legally-aided person at the end of the provision of legal services; and
• the financial circumstances of the legally-aided person must be examined at the date of the decision on the issue of hardship; and
• the establishment of criteria to be taken into account and the preparation of guidelines so as the achieve a consistency in the treatment of all persons in relation to the retention by the Board of the costs of providing legal services are essential; and
• while guidelines are essential so as to provide a uniform and standard set of criteria to be taken into account in reaching a decision, the Board must exercise its discretion in each and every case by reference to the particular facts of the case.