Legal Aid Agency

The Legal Aid Agency is an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the United Kingdom. It provides both civil and criminal legal aid and advice in England and Wales. The agency was formed on 1 April 2013 as a replacement for the Legal Services Commission, a non-departmental public body of the MoJ. This change was enacted by the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 to allow for greater ministerial control over the UK government's legal aid budget. The agency's chief executive, the Director of Legal Casework, is Shaun McNally.