Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (Costs) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1996
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
1996 No. 2655
LEGAL AID AND ADVICE, ENGLAND AND WALES
The Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (Costs) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1996
Made 15th October 1996
Laid before Parliament 18th October 1996
Coming into force 1st January 1997
The Lord Chancellor, in exercise of the powers conferred on him by sections 25(2), 34 and 43 of the Legal Aid Act 19881, having had regard to the matters specified in section 34(9) and having consulted the General Council of the Bar and the Law Society and with the consent of the Treasury, hereby makes the following Regulations: —
Citation and commencement
1. These Regulations may be cited as the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (Costs) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 1996 and shall come into force on 1st January 1997.
Interpretation
2. In these Regulations a reference to a regulation or Schedule by number alone means the regulation or Schedule so numbered in the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (Costs) Regulations 19892.
Transitional provisions
3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), these Regulations shall apply to work done under a legal aid order made on or after 1st January 1997.
(2) Regulations 4F to 4J, as inserted by these Regulations, shall apply to all proceedings where a claim would become eligible for payment in accordance with the terms of any of those regulations on or after 1st January 1997.
Amendments to the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (Costs) Regulations 1989
4. In the Arrangement of Regulations:
(a) after the reference to regulation 4E, there shall be inserted the following: —
“4F. Staged payments in long Crown Court cases
4G. Interim payments for attendance at trial and refreshers
4H. Advance payments for early preparation in Crown Court cases
4I. Hardship payments
4J. Computation of final claim”;
(b) after the reference to Schedule 2, there shall be inserted the following: —
“3. Fees for advocacy in the Crown Court”.
5. In regulation 2(1) the following definition shall be inserted after the definition of “legal executive”: —
““pleas and directions hearing” means any hearing which is fixed for the purpose of arraigning any person, unless it has been arranged that if that person pleads not guilty to one or more counts his trial shall follow immediately;”.
6. In regulation 3(3), for “counsel or the solicitor” there shall be substituted “any legal representative”.
7. After regulation 4E there shall be inserted the following regulations: —
“Staged payments in long Crown Court cases
4F.—(1) A legal representative may submit a claim to the appropriate authority for a staged payment of his fees in relation to criminal proceedings in the Crown Court.
(2) Where a claim is submitted in accordance with the provisions of this regulation, a staged payment shall be allowed where the appropriate authority is satisfied —
(a)
(a) that the claim relates to fees for a period of preparation of 100 hours or more, for which the legal representative will, subject to final determination of the costs payable, be entitled to be paid in accordance with these Regulations, and
(b)
(b) that the period from committal or transfer for trial (or from the date of the legal aid order, if this is later) to the conclusion of the Crown Court proceedings will be likely to exceed 12 months, having regard amongst other matters to the number of defendants, the anticipated pleas and the weight and complexity of the case.
(3) In this regulation “preparation” means —
(a)
(a) all work falling within the definition of “preparation” in paragraph 1(1) of Schedule 3;
(b)
(b) attendance at pre-trial reviews and other hearings (other than a pleas and directions hearing) prior to the main hearing;
(c)
(c) preparation of applications, statements or notices for the purposes of section 6 or 9(5) of the Criminal Justice Act 19873, and
(d)
(d) all preparation within the meaning of regulation 6(1)(a) not falling within the preceding sub-paragraphs,
and is limited to preparation done before the commencement of the trial, except in proceedings in which a preparatory hearing has been ordered under section 8 of the Criminal Justice Act 1987 in which case it is limited to preparation done before the date on which the jury is sworn (or on which it became certain, by reason of pleas of guilty or otherwise, that the matter would not proceed to trial).
(4) The amount to be allowed for preparation falling within paragraph (3)(a), (b) or (c) shall be computed by reference to the number of hours of preparation which it appears to the appropriate authority, without prejudice to final determination of the costs payable, has been reasonably done multiplied by the relevant hourly rate namely —
(a)
(a) in the case of an authorised advocate who is a Queen’s Counsel, the hourly rate for subsidiary fees for Queen’s Counsel in the Crown Court prescribed in Table 2 in Schedule 2 Part II;
(b)
(b) in the case of an authorised advocate instructed as leading junior counsel pursuant to an order made under regulation 48 of the General Regulations, 75 per cent. of the hourly rate for subsidiary fees for Queen’s Counsel in the Crown Court prescribed in Table 2 in Schedule 2 Part II;
(c)
(c) in the case of any other authorised advocate, the hourly rate for subsidiary fees for junior counsel in the Crown Court prescribed in Table 1 in Schedule 2 Part II.
(5) The amount to be allowed for preparation falling within paragraph (3)(d) shall be computed by reference to the number of hours of preparation which it appears to the appropriate authority, without prejudice to the final determination of the costs payable, has been reasonably done multiplied by the relevant hourly rate prescribed in Schedule 1 Part I, paragraph 1(1)(b) applicable to the class of work and the grade and office location of the fee-earner.
(6) A claim shall be submitted in such form and manner as the appropriate authority may direct, including such case plan as the appropriate authority may require for the purposes of paragraph (2)(a).
(7) A legal representative may claim further staged payments in accordance with this regulation in respect of further periods of preparation exceeding 100 hours which were not included in an earlier claim.
(8) Regulations 14 to 16 (redetermination etc.) shall not apply to a payment under this regulation.
Interim payment for attendance at trial and refreshers
4G.—(1) A legal representative may submit a claim to the appropriate authority for an interim payment in respect of attendance at court or refreshers where a Crown Court trial lasts for a qualifying period.
(2) Where a claim is submitted in accordance with the provisions of this regulation, an interim payment shall, without prejudice to the final determination of the costs payable, be allowed —
(a)
(a) to an authorised litigator, where he or a fee-earner representing him has attended at court on each day of the qualifying period;
(b)
(b) to an authorised advocate, where he has done work falling within paragraph 6(2)(b) or (c) of Schedule 3 on each day of the qualifying period.
(3) The qualifying period for the purposes of this regulation shall be 20 days (which need not be continuous), and a day will qualify as part of that period if the hearing begins at any time on that day.
(4) The amount payable in respect of each day which qualifies as part of the qualifying period shall be
(a)
(a) in the case of an authorised litigator —
(i) where the hearing begins before and ends after the luncheon adjournment, five times the hourly rate for an articled clerk or fee-earner of equivalent experience attending court where more than one legal representative is assigned as prescribed in Schedule 1 Part I, paragraph l(l)(b);
(ii) where the hearing begins and ends before the luncheon adjournment, or begins after the luncheon adjournment, two and a half times the hourly rate referred to in (i) above;
(b)
(b) in the case of an authorised advocate who is a Queen’s Counsel, the maximum amount of the full day refresher fee for Queen’s Counsel in the Crown Court prescribed in Table 2 in Schedule 2 Part II;
(c)
(c) in the case of an authorised advocate instructed as leading junior counsel pursuant to an order made under regulation 48 of the General Regulations, 75 per cent. of the maximum amount of the full day refresher fee for Queen’s Counsel in the Crown Court prescribed in Table 2 in Schedule 2 Part II;
(d)
(d) in the case of an authorised advocate retained solely for the purpose of making a note of any hearing, one-half of the maximum amount of the full day refresher fee for junior counsel in the Crown Court prescribed in Table 1 in Schedule 2 Part II;
(e)
(e) in the case of any other authorised advocate, the maximum amount of the full day refresher fee for junior counsel in the Crown Court prescribed in Table 1 in Schedule 2 Part II.
(5) A claim for an interim payment may be made in respect of a qualifying period and shall be submitted in such form and manner as the appropriate authority may direct.
(6) Further interim payments under this regulation may be claimed if the trial lasts for further qualifying periods.
(7) Regulations 14 to 16 (redetermination etc.) shall not apply to a payment under this regulation.
Advance payments for early preparation in Crown Court cases
4H.—(1) An advance payment under this regulation shall be payable in respect of every case in the Crown Court in which:
(a)
(a) a pleas and directions...
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