Criminal guidance

Carrying out criminal legal assistance

• Availability of advice and assistance

• Advice and assistance application procedures

• Assistance by way of representation (ABWOR) in summary criminal proceedings

• Assistance by way of representation in other criminal proceedings

• Assistance by way of representation in parole board proceedings

• General availability of criminal legal aid

• Automatic availability of criminal legal aid

• Court duty solicitor arrangements

• Criminal legal aid applications to the court

• Applications for Exceptional Case Status in summary criminal proceedings

• Applications in summary criminal proceedings

• Financial eligibility for summary criminal legal aid

• Applications in solemn proceedings

• Financial eligibility for solemn criminal legal aid

• Approval for an expert witness

• Approval for counsel

• Work that needs our prior approval after legal aid granted

• Approval for unusual work

• Approval for unusually large expenditure

  • Work or an unusual nature or likely to involve unusually large expenditure

• Criminal legal aid applications for appeals

• High cost cases

• Change of solicitor

• Termination of criminal legal aid

• Proceeds of crime

VAT

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Accounts common queries

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Criminal legal assistance accounts

• Interim payment procedure for fees and/or outlays

• Introduction to Criminal accounts- detailed fees

• Fees

• Guidance on chargeable work - detailed fees

• Travel - detailed fees

• Outlays

Criminal fixed payment accounts

• Introduction to summary criminal fixed payments

  • What are fixed payments?
  • Proceedings to which fixed payments apply
  • Proceedings to which fixed payments do not apply
  • The fixed payments schedules
  • Bar on mixing fixed payments and detailed fees
  • Breach of bail etc. proceedings
  • Proceedings covered by fixed payments (the “single matter”)
  • Acting for more than one accused person in the proceedings
  • Proceedings arising out of the same incident
  • Single payment in a summary criminal case

• Proceedings to which fixed payments do not apply

  • Exceptions to lodging a fixed payments account
  • Excluded proceedings  
  • Exceptional cases  

• Fixed payments allowable in a case

  • The structure of fixed payments
  • First and second deferred sentence 
  • Schedule 1 fee (the legal aid core fixed payment)
  • Schedule 1A fee (the legal aid case disposal fee in the sheriff court)
  • Schedule 1B fee (the ABWOR core fixed payment in the JP court)
  • Schedule 1B fee (the ABWOR case disposal fee in the sheriff court)
  • Section 174(1) appeal
  • Post-conviction hearings under ABWOR
  • The drug court
  • Travel
  • Subsumption of fees and outlays under advice and assistance (and ABWOR)

• Outlays

  • Outlays included in the fixed payment  fee
  • No payment can be made to a witness on the Crown list
  • Outlays not included in fixed payment
  • General regulations and standard of taxation – outlays
  • Employment of counsel and expert witnesses
  • Sanction for unusual work or unusually large expenditure  
  • Certain outlays not chargeable under advice and assistance (and ABWOR)

• Accounts and general issues

  • Submission and completion of the account synopsis form
  • Conclusion of proceedings
  • Criminal fees regulations and standard of taxation
  • Acting for more than one accused person in the proceedings
  • Payment on transfer of agency
  • ABWOR issues in fixed payment accounts
  • Waiting time 
  • Duty solicitor plea – half fee 

• Appendix 1: Summary of Criminal fixed payment schedules

  • Summary of Schedule 1 – Part 1
  • Summary of Schedule 1 – Part 2 Drug Court
  • Summary of Schedule 1A – Part 1
  • Summary of Schedule 1A – Part 2 Drug Court
  • Summary of Schedule 1B – Part 1 (JP Court)
  • Summary of Schedule 1B – Part 2 Drug Court (JP Court)
  • Summary of Schedule 1B – Part 1 (Sheriff – Stipendiary Court)
  • Summary of Schedule 1B – Part 2 Drug Court (Sheriff – Stipendiary Court)

• Appendix 2: Proceedings arising out the same incident

  • Examples of proceedings arising from the same incident
  • New complaint the same as previous complaint
  • New complaint: further charge arising from incident
  • Two separate complaints combined in a third
  • Examples of proceedings not arising from the same incident
  • New complaint: further charge from separate incident
  • Bail offences
  • Conditions to be met by an appointed solicitor

Solemn accounts

• Solemn Inclusive Fees – Schedule 1, Part 1
• Prison opt-out procedures allowing detailed charging where a client is remanded in custody
• When detailed fees are available for post-conviction work

Interpreting and translating

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