General regulations and standard of taxation – outlays

Regulation 8 of the criminal fees regulations and regulation 17(1) of the advice and assistance regulations apply to criminal legal aid and ABWOR accounts, respectively, but are subject to the provisions of the fixed payments regulations.  If the terms of these regulations conflict with the terms of the fixed payments regulations, the fixed payments regulations shall apply.

The principal fees regulations, respectively, continue to apply generally to such outlays as can be separately incurred under a fixed payments case in the same way as they apply in a case under advice and assistance, ABWOR or criminal legal aid that are subject to a detailed account. They must be actually, necessarily and reasonably incurred, due regard to economy, for example

• Mileage or the cost of travel incurred in connection with travel to a court in the town or place where you have a place of business cannot be charged. This includes ABWOR where a fixed payment is chargeable (see regulations 17(3) and (4)) of the advice and assistance regulations
• The costs of travel, where chargeable, including mileage, must be apportioned at all times
• Mileage incurred in travel to a distant court for the conduct of, say, an intermediate diet or deferred sentence where a local agent could have been used, must be justified
• Numerous visits to a client in any prison must be justified
• Out of pocket expenses, witness expenses and expenses incurred by expert witnesses must be reasonably incurred and vouched
• There shall not be allowed to a solicitor outlays representing posts and incidents
• Where criminal legal aid is available, the provision that fees paid to witnesses who are not on the Crown list shall not exceed such sums as are considered by the Board to be reasonable having regard to the sums payable from time to time by the Crown to witnesses of the same categories apply.