Be it enacted by the King’s most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-- =1.= (1) Where it appears, having regard to the nature of the defence set up by any poor prisoner, as disclosed in the evidence given or statement made by him before the committing justices, that it is desirable in the interests of justice that he should have legal aid in the preparation and conduct of his defence, and that his means are insufficient to enable him to obtain such aid-- (_a_) the committing justices, upon the committal of the prisoner for trial, or (_b_) the judge of a court of assize or chairman of a court of quarter sessions, at any time after reading the depositions, may certify that the prisoner ought to have such legal aid, and thereupon the prisoner shall be entitled to have a solicitor and counsel assigned to him, subject to the provisions of this Act. (2) The expenses of the defence, including the cost of a copy of the depositions, the fees of solicitor and counsel, and the expenses of any witnesses shall be allowed and paid in the same manner as the expenses of a prosecution in cases of indictment for felony, subject, nevertheless, to any rules under this Act and to any regulations as to rates or scales of payment which may be made by one of His Majesty’s Principal Secretaries of State. =2.= Rules for carrying this Act into effect may be made in the same manner and subject to the same conditions as Rules under the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1879. =3.= In this Act-- “Prisoner” includes a person committed for trial on bail. “Committing justices” includes a magistrate of the police courts of the metropolis and a stipendiary magistrate. “Chairman” includes recorder or deputy recorder or deputy chairman. =4.= This Act shall not extend to Scotland or Ireland. =5.= This Act may be cited as the Poor Prisoners’ Defence Act, 1903, and shall come into operation on the first day of January one thousand nine hundred and four.