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The
Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2014 have been published, and come into force on 2nd October. They implement promises the government made earlier in the year to introduce payments on account for Crown Court fees. For representation orders issued on or after 2nd October, litigators may claim an interim payment when:
a not guilty plea is entered at a plea and case management hearing (provided it is not a case where the defendant has elected Crown Court trial);
a retrial is ordered and representation is transferred to a new litigator (provided it is not a case where the defendant has elected Crown Court trial);
a trial listed for 10 days or more has commenced. Paragraphs 11 to 14 of new Regulation 17A of the Remuneration Regulations (see
the schedule of these amendment regs for the text) sets out the mechanism for calculating interim payments: Also, there is a change to the fee regime for both litigators and advocates. In cases where the defendant has elected Crown Court trial and the prosecution offer no evidence with a not guilty verdict being entered, a graduated fee rather than a fixed fee may be claimed. Again, this applies to representation orders issued on or after 2nd October. Our
Resources and
Handbook Updates pages have been amended to reflect these changes.