Discharged and Revoked Certificates - when legal aid ends
Your Legal Aid Certificate may be "discharged" or "revoked" because for example, you are no longer eligible or have failed to respond to a Legal Aid Agency request for further information or your solicitor has recommended that your certificate should be discharged or revoked.
If your certificate is discharged or revoked your solicitor cannot carry out any further work under the certificate.
You will be told by the Legal Aid Agency if they are thinking of discharging or revoking your certificate and you can object by writing to them within a given period of time, usually 14 days.
If your certificate is Discharged you do not have to pay for all the work your solicitor has done up to the date the certificate was discharged. However, you will no longer be entitled to legal aid for your case, though you can reapply.
If your Certificate is Revoked you may have to pay for the work your solicitor has done so far under the certificate. It is very important therefore to object to a Revocation of your certificate if you can. If you are no longer financially eligible then it may be difficult to object to a revocation.
Sometimes Legal Aid Certificates granted as an emergency will be revoked later when the Agency has looked at details of your income and they decide that you are not eligible for legal aid.
Paying back your Legal Costs - how and when you have to pay back