Three important new sets of regulations were published this week.
- The Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 come into force on 20th March, and implement the first 8.75% cut to solicitors fees for all criminal work in cases started on or after that date. The criminal representative bodies have called a meeting of firm owners for 19th March to discuss issues arising from the criminal cuts.
- The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No 2) Regulations 2014 come into force on 22nd April, and set out the payment rates for family work in cases started on or after that date – these are the regulations implementing the payment changes following the introduction of the new single family court.
- The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No 3) Regulations 2014 implement the changes to funding of judicial review cases, where work done between issue of proceedings and grant of permission is conditional on either permission being granted or LAA discretion. These regulations also come into force on 22nd April for certificates granted on or after that date. Where permission is not granted, payment will only be made where it is not refused and the LAA (strictly, the Lord Chancellor) considers it reasonable to make payment, taking into account why no costs order was made, the extent to which the outcome sought was obtained and the strength of the application at issue.
Links to all regulations are also on our LASPO Resources page, and the Handbook Updates page will contain relevant updating material shortly.
Legal Aid Handbook 