https://www.slab.org.uk/guidance/hearings-in-the-first-instance/
https://www.slab.org.uk/guidance/hearings-in-the-first-instance/
2(a) In Edinburgh
2(b) In Glasgow
2(c) Elsewhere within 60 miles journey by road from Edinburgh
2(d) In Aberdeen, Inverness or Dumfries
2(e) Elsewhere beyond 60 miles journey by road from Edinburgh – Such fee as the Auditor considers appropriate with regard to the journey involved and the level of fees prescribed in this paragraph.
This is a fee which can be:
The Schedule 2 Table of Fees was structured in a way that reflected the historical, but outdated, practice that assumed that counsel’s place of business was at Parliament House in Edinburgh.
The Table of Fees sets a prescribed fee for Edinburgh with higher rates being prescribed for Glasgow and Aberdeen, Inverness or Dumfries to reflect the additional travel time to court that would be engaged.
Where the Table of Fees refers to Edinburgh, or any other court location, the fee level that is prescribed for that hearing works on the basis that travel, where appropriate, is from Edinburgh.
We recognise that counsel are self-employed practitioners and for the purposes of the Fees Regulations it is ordinarily accepted that counsel’s place of business should be based on where they normally reside.
In many cases that will be somewhere other than Edinburgh.
Accordingly, when we are assessing a fee the operation of the Table of Fees is applied flexibly to reflect your place of business.
For example:
Where you elect to charge a different fee we recommend that you should have regard to rates from the Tables of Fees which have been reviewed to reflect modern court practices and procedures, such as those under Schedule 2 of the Criminal Fees Regulations, which helpfully provide benchmark rates for a publically funded legal aid service which can reasonably be applied in contempt of court proceedings.
Otherwise you must justify the fee with reference to the factors in schedule 2, paragraph 3, that the fee is reasonable having regard to the particular complexity or difficulty of the work or any other particular circumstances.
A short concise and focused narrative in support of the charge should be sufficient.
Where we are not satisfied that the fee claimed is reasonable based on the information available we will allow what we consider to be a reasonable fee and invite you to provide further information in support of the claim.