(1) There is hereby established the Saint Lucia Legal Aid Authority which shall be a body corporate to which section 19 of the Interpretation Act 1968, No. 18 applies.
(2) The affairs of the Authority shall be administered by a Board that subject to subsections (3) and (4) shall comprise the following seven members—
(a) a Chairperson;
(b) a Deputy Chairperson; and
(c) five other members,
appointed by the Minister.
(3) The persons eligible for appointment under subsection (2) shall have high professional integrity and experience in at least one of the following areas—
(a) law;
(b) practice and procedure of the Courts;
(c) business;
(d) finance;
(e) management and administration;
(f) consumer or social affairs; or
(g) any other subject, which would, in the opinion of the Minister, be of assistance to the Board in the performance of its functions.
(4) A person shall be disqualified from being a member of the Board if that person—
(a) is declared by a court to be a bankrupt;
(b) is declared by a court to be physically or mentally incapacitated by reason of unsoundness of mind;
(c) has been convicted of a criminal offence except where the offence is a minor traffic offence or has been spent in accordance with the Criminal Records (Rehabilitation of Offenders) Act; or
(d) is a member of Parliament.
(5) Where under section 19 a vacancy exists in the membership of the Board, the Minister shall in accordance with this section appoint a person to fill the vacancy.
(6) The Minister shall by Order published in the Gazette give notice of the names of the members of the Board as first constituted and every change in the membership of the Board.