CJSA, Counter Terrorism, Police Station Advice

Where you are providing advice and assistance to clients in respect of the arrest and detention procedures under Part 1 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act (CJSA) or Section 41 and Schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (2000 Act) and Part 1 of Schedule 3 of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019 (CTBS), you must charge the fees that are prescribed in parts IV and VI of the Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Regulation 1996.

This includes where the advice relates to any of the following:

Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016

• Section 32 – Right to have a solicitor present
• Section 44 – Right to consultation with a solicitor.

Terrorism Act 2000

• Paragraph 16(6) – Right to a consultation with a solicitor
• Paragraph 16A(6) & (7) – Where a client has a right to a consultation in person but the examining officer requires that a consultation is to take place other than in person
• Paragraph 26 – Representations to review a person’s continued detention.

Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019

• Paragraph 37(6) – Right to a consultation with a solicitor
• Paragraphs – 38(6) & (7) – Where a client has a right to a consultation in person but the examining officer requires that a consultation is to take place other than in person
• Paragraph 54 – Representations to review a person’s continued detention.

The fees are designed to accommodate the different ways in which advice and assistance can be provided. The fees are inclusive fees that cover all work, with the exception of travel which is payable separately, where appropriate.

Higher fees are chargeable where any part of the advice and assistance, including any necessary travel, is provided during “unsocial time”.

A standard inclusive fee is payable, regardless of the duration, for advice otherwise in person in terms of s44 of the CJSA or for any consultation otherwise in person under paragraph 16(6) or 16A(6) and (7) of schedule 8  of the 2000 Act or 38(6) and (7) of the CTBS.

An enhanced inclusive fee is payable, regardless of duration, where your client has been assessed as vulnerable by the police, and where the client has requested a personal attendance consultation in terms of s44 of the CJSA;

We have also been given authority to make payment of this fee where police Scotland have invoked the ‘appropriate adult’ arrangements. This would, for example, apply where children under the age of 16 were being interviewed;

You should note that there is no equivalent enhanced fee where the client is detained under section 41 and schedule 7 of the 2000 Act and Part 1 of Schedule 3 of the CTBS.

An inclusive fee is payable, which may increase depending on the time engaged, where there is an interview in terms of s32 of the CJSA, a consultation in person under paragraph 16(6) of Schedule 8 of the 2000 Act or paragraph 37(6) of Schedule 3 of the CTBS or where representations to review detention procedures in terms of paragraph 26 of the 2000 Act and paragraph 54 of Schedule 3 of the CTBS;

An inclusive fee is payable:

• for any advice including any necessary waiting up to the first two hours
• a higher fee is payable where the advice and waiting is more than two hours up to and including four hours, and
• an additional fee is chargeable for each subsequent hour.

Representations to review detention procedures in terms of paragraph 26 of the 2000 Act and paragraph 54 of Schedule 3 of the CTBS, can be made either orally or in writing.

Where written representations are made you can charge for the reasonable time in framing those representations as if it were a personal attendance. The time engaged under the initial period of detention and any subsequent reviews must be aggregated before you calculate the fee payable.

For example, if you have been engaged 1 hour having a personal consultation and one hour making representations the aggregate time that you claim is two hours.

Travel may be charged, where appropriate, in addition to any consultation or interview fees. Travel fees are payable in 30 minute blocks. You must aggregate the total time engaged in travel during any detention period when making your claim even where this includes more than one journey.

If you are travelling in respect of more than one case you should apportion the fee payable in respect of travel and not the time that has been engaged.

Mileage, or other reasonable travel outlays, will be allowable in addition to any travel time.

You must obtain our prior approval where the travel time engaged is more than two hours regardless of whether this relates to a single or multiple journeys. We have no discretion to authorise a request retrospectively.

Applications must be made to the criminal applications department.

You claim the higher rates where any of the advice is provided, including any travel time, during any periods that are defined as “unsocial time” or during a “specified holiday”.

Both the inclusive fee and travel are payable at higher rates even if only the travel time was done during the unsocial time.

“unsocial time” means:

(a) a Saturday, Sunday or specified holiday

(b) any time between 1900 hours and 0700 hours on any other day

 “specified holiday” means:

(a) New Year’s Day, if it is not a Saturday or Sunday or, if it is a Saturday or Sunday, the first Monday following New Year’s Day

(b) 2nd January or

(i) if it is a Saturday, 4th January

(ii) if it is Sunday, 4th January

(c) Good Friday

(d) Easter Monday

(e) the first Monday in May

(f) 30th November, if it is not a Saturday or Sunday or, if it is a Saturday or Sunday, the first Monday following the 30th November

(g) Christmas Day, if it is not a Saturday or Sunday or, if it is a Saturday or Sunday, the first Monday following Christmas Day

(h) 26th December or

(i) if it is a Saturday, 28th December

(ii) if it is a Sunday, 28th December.

The CJSA ABWOR fees are prescribed in Part III, paragraphs 1-3 of The Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Regulations 1996. The fees provide cover for:

• Section 19 – Application for review of conditions of investigative liberation
• Section 30 – Application for review of undertaking conditions; and
• Section 36(1)(a) – Application for authorisation for questioning by a prosecutor.

The ABWOR fees for proceedings under Shedule 8 of the 2000 Act are prescribed in Part V, paragraphs 1-3 of The Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Regulations 1996. The fees provide cover for:

• Paragraph 29 of schedule 8 of the 2000 Act – Application for warrant of further detention; and
• Paragraph 36 of Schedule 8 of the 2000 Act – Application for extension of warrant of further detention.

The fees for both CJSA and terrorism offences are the same.

An inclusive fee is payable for “all work” where the matter proceeds to a court hearing. An additional fee is payable for any subsequent court attendance.

A lower inclusive fee is payable for “all work” where the matter is resolved without proceeding to a court hearing.

Travel fees are payable separately for the time necessarily spent travelling to and from court, where the court is not in a town or place where the solicitor has a place of business, per quarter hour.

It should be noted that our approval is not required for travel in excess of 2 hours. Travel outlays are payable over and above the fees, where appropriate.

Regulation 7 of the Criminal Legal Assistance (Fees and Information etc.)(Scotland) Regulations 2008, makes provision for a single payment where more than one relevant type of criminal legal assistance is made to the same person in respect of the same matter.

Regulation 7(5) of those regulations is dis-applied and a separate payment is allowed, in addition to the summary criminal fixed payment, where the advice relates to:

• the provision of advice and assistance to a person to whom section 32 (right to have solicitor present) of the CJSA applies or paragraph 16(6) of schedule 8 of the 2000 Act applies or paragraph 37(6) of schedule 3 of the CTBS applies
• the provision of assistance by way of representation to a person who:
  • applies for a review of conditions under section 19 of the CJSA
  • applies for a review of a condition of an undertaking under section 30 of the CJSA or
  • is the subject of an application for authorisation for questioning by a prosecutor under 36(1)(a) of
  • in connection with an application for a warrant of further detention, or for an extension of such a warrant, under paragraph 29 or 36 of Schedule 8 to the 2000 Act.

The reference to “relevant” is the way in which the regulations define grants of summary criminal legal aid and ABWOR fixed payment from non-fixed payment cases.

Legal Aid Online provides a simplified application and payment process removes the need for the three-stage advice and assistance intimation, increase and time and line accounts process similar to the online court duty claim process.

Full details of how you intimate grants of Advice and Assistance or ABWOR and how to submit your account can be found in the guidance below:

• How to complete a police station custody advice application and submit an account – PDF
• How to complete a Criminal Justice ABWOR application and submit an account – PDF 

You should only submit your claim when the advice and assistance or ABWOR is completed as it will only be at that stage that you will be able to establish the correct fee that will be payable.

You do not require a PSRN in the following circumstances:

• Where the client in police custody outside Scotland; or
• Where the client is  elsewhere other than at a police station

When making your claim you must explain in the free text box on the system the reason why no PSRN is provided and the system will then generates an advice and assistance reference which will allow the account to be submitted.

If there is a requirement for a further attendance(s) at a police interview on a different day, the system does not allow a further inclusive fee to be charged. The fee is calculated on the basis of the total time engaged. If the attendances are within 24 hours you simply require to enter the relevant times engaged, including any gaps, and the system will calculate the fee which is payable.

However, if the second or subsequent attendance(s) are more than 24 hours apart you should provide details of the times engaged in an online notification in order that we can then calculate the correct fee payable based on the total time that you have been engaged.

It is important that when you are asked to enter the times engaged in support of any claim that you enter them in the format of a 24 hour clock basis otherwise this may result in accounts being over or understated and this may lead to delays in making payment of the account and the need for further information to be provided in support of your claim.

You must submit your account within one year of the date when the giving of advice and assistance was completed.

If you submit the account after the time limit, we have discretion to accept late accounts but only where you can provide details of the “special reason” for the late submission. There is no definition of what constitutes “special reason” but we will normally allow the claim where the reason for the delay is outwith your control as a result of:

• Death
• Long term illness
• Burglary of office premises
• Office relocation
• Fire or Flooding
• Staff departures
• Remote working due to the pandemic
• Computer problems (i.e. inability to submit accounts or retrieve data).

This is not intended to be a definitive list and we will carefully consider any other reasonable explanation, if appropriate.

You must make the application within 14 days of admitting the client to advice and assistance. If the date of the commencement is greater than 14 days you must provide a “special reason” before we can allow the late submission.

There is no definition of what constitutes “special reason” but we will normally allow the claim where the reason for the delay is outwith your control as a result of the factors listed in the guidance for submitting late accounts.

Paper process

Sending paper accounts securely using email

Where you send us accounts and any attachments, such as vouching, by email they must be compressed, encrypted and sent using the free open source software 7-zip.

Once you have installed the software it is a simple process to compress the document and email it to us using 7-zip.

We have provided some instructions below. Please note: the process may differ depending on the email client you use.

For example:

• To compress the account, right click on the document and choose option > 7-zip, then >compress and email
• In the pop-up window that opens you must encrypt/password protect the document. In the Encryption section of the pop-up enter a password for the file. You require to enter and re-enter the password to protect the document
• When you hit ‘OK’, an email should open with the compressed zip file attached. The password should not be included with this email message
• Enter paperaccounts@slab.org.uk in the ‘To’ field and add any message
• The password requires to be sent by separate email message, to the same email address. Please include the legal aid reference as the subject header.

You should attach and send your accounts individually and securely to paperaccounts@slab.org.uk.