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

Legal aid for contempt of court proceedings

There are no matching items in this category.

VAT

There are no matching items in this category.

Accounts common queries

There are no matching items in this category.

Criminal Advice & Assistance and ABWOR accounts

There are no matching items in this category.

Criminal legal aid accounts

• Interim payment procedure for fees and/or 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

There are no matching items in this category.