All guidance

Advice and Assistance

• Table of fees

• Availability of advice and assistance

  • Definition of advice and assistance
  • Matters covered by civil advice and assistance
  • Granting standard advice and assistance
  • Matters covered by a diagnostic interview
  • Choosing the correct A&A category code: Civil or Children’s
  • Diagnostic advice and assistance matter categories
  • Policy and procedure where providing a diagnostic interviews only or multiple interviews
  • Moving from a diagnostic interview to standard advice and assistance: when and how to do this
  • Approved subject matters for standard advice and assistance: deciding whether a matter is ‘distinct’
  • Civil advice and “representation”: steps that can and cannot be taken before a court or tribunal
  • Relationship with civil legal aid applications
  • Who may provide civil advice and assistance?
  • Who can receive advice and assistance?
  • Commencement of advice and assistance: the relevant date
  • The role of unqualified persons in the provision of advice and assistance
  • Questions to ask your client in determining whether to grant advice and assistance
  • Client information and satisfying yourself on eligibility before granting
  • List of your responsibilities
  • TOOL: apply for/oppose an order under the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000

• Advice and Assistance application procedures

  • Completing the advice and assistance application form
  • Advice and assistance and the assessment of financial eligibility
  • Financial eligibility of children for advice and assistance (non-criminal matters)
  • Advice and assistance for reciprocal enforcement of maintenance orders: special eligibility arrangements
  • Financial eligibility for advice and assistance: evidence you must supply
  • Advice and assistance applications: the applicant’s declaration
  • Telephone grants of advice and assistance
  • Granting advice and assistance: timescales for notifying us
  • Identifying case types where A&A is appropriate: distinct and reasonably ancillary matters
  • Advice and assistance and the basic limits of expenditure: which level applies?
  • Authority to exceed the initial expenditure limit for advice and assistance: template increases
  • Advice and assistance: non-templated increases
  • Providing advice and assistance to children
  • Advice and assistance and changes of nominated solicitor
  • Second solicitor giving advice and assistance on the same matter: prior authority required
  • Procedure for withdrawing from giving advice and assistance
  • Private client charging after a grant of advice and assistance has ended: what you must do
  • Rule on the simultaneous provision of A&A and civil legal aid

• Verification of financial eligibility for advice and assistance or ABWOR

  • Financial verification for civil advice and assistance: an introduction
  • Financial verification for advice and assistance: general principles
  • Advice and assistance eligibility and financial verification: your client’s responsibilities and what they should be aware of
  • Advice and assistance and financial eligibility: assessment of capital
  • Advice and assistance and financial eligibility: assessment of income
  • Advice and assistance and financial eligibility: cases where no documentary evidence of eligibility is immediately available
  • Advice and assistance and financial verification in prisoners’ cases: aggregation of partner’s resources
  • Advice and assistance and financial verification: required age of documentary evidence

• ABWOR in civil proceedings

  • The scope and availability of ABWOR in civil proceedings
  • Proceedings requiring our prior approval before granting ABWOR
  • Financial eligibility tests for ABWOR: case type exemptions
  • Your responsibility to decide on your client’s eligibility for ABWOR
  • Requirement for our prior approval for certain ABWOR cases: tests applied
  • Civil ABWOR: the limit of authorised expenditure
  • Exemptions to rules on property recovered or preserved in Upper Tribunal proceedings
  • Determination: cover for representation before the First-tier Tribunal (Asylum Support)

• Increases in authorised expenditure under advice and assistance and ABWOR employment of third parties

  • The use of counsel under Advice and Assistance
  • Advice and assistance increases for expert witnesses who are based at a considerable distance from the court and your client: factors to address
  • Advice and assistance increases for mediation
  • Limited availability of advice and assistance for tracing relatives or witnesses: “fishing enquiries”

• Increases for different types of case under A&A and ABWOR

  • TOOL: A&A increases and templates guide

Civil Legal Aid

• Table of fees

• Availability of Civil legal aid and application procedures

  • Definition of civil legal aid
  • Applications by corporate or unincorporated bodies and sole traders
  • Courts and tribunals in which civil legal aid is available
  • Proceeding for which civil legal aid is not (or only partially) available: ‘excepted proceedings’
  • Civil legal aid: statutory tests for applications
  • Other rights or facilities
  • Civil legal aid for matters outwith Scotland
  • What date is legal aid effective from?
  • The essential components of a civil legal aid application: forms, statutory statements, declaration
  • Civil legal aid and the role of opponents
  • Civil legal aid applications: statements and other documents we need
  • Rejection of civil legal aid applications: consequences of missing information
  • Civil legal aid applications by someone unable to sign or suffering from a mental disorder
  • Civil legal aid applications by person resident outwith the UK
  • Civil legal aid application by or on behalf of children: assessing ‘general understanding’ of instructing a solicitor
  • Our power to modify or impose conditions on grants of legal aid
  • Refusal of legal aid applications
  • Applications for civil legal aid for proceedings where we are a party
  • Disputing information: what to send us if you are acting on behalf of your client who is the opponent

• Financial assessment

  • Financial eligibility for civil legal aid: general conditions and limits
  • Choosing the right financial information form for the client
  • Civil legal aid assessment period and its consequences: ‘period of computation’
  • Taking partners’ financial resources into account: civil legal aid
  • Civil legal aid: how we calculate income and what’s included
  • Civil legal aid: assessment of capital resources and relevant disregards/allowances
  • Financial assessment where applicant has deprived themselves of resources: no disregards given
  • Calculating disposable capital and disregards: are the resources the subject matter of dispute?
  • Financial assessment for special categories of applicant
  • Appellate proceedings: is a fresh financial assessment and additional contribution necessary?
  • Adults With Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000: modified financial assessment process
  • Will my client be liable to pay a contribution?

• Assessing probable cause and reasonableness

  • Overview of reasonableness factors
  • Timing of the application and the status of the dispute
  • Prospects of success
  • Cost and benefit analysis
  • Strategic impact or wider public interest of the case

• Merits of different types of case

  • TOOL: find the merits guidance for your case
  • Cohabitee cases
  • Gender Recognition cases
  • Cases involving disputes over children
  • Matrimonial property disputes
  • Divorce – non-financial provision cases
  • Divorce – financial provision cases
  • Applications for legal aid by curators ad litem for children
  • Interdicts, power of arrest and non-harassment orders
  • Reparation cases
  • Petition for Judicial Review
  • Legal aid for judicial review of our decisions
  • Actions of payment
  • Actions of reduction
  • Caution
  • Safeguarders – Adults with Incapacity
  • Fatal Accident Inquiries
  • Appellate proceedings
  • Applications by children
  • Defamation
  • Mortgage rights proceedings – Home Owner and Debtor Protection (Scotland) Act 2010
  • Actions in relation to private sector tenancies (including eviction proceedings in the First-tier Tribunal for Scotland (Housing and Property Chamber))
  • Proceeds of Crime cases
  • Adults with Incapacity (AWI)

• Modified application procedures

  • Civil legal aid for child abduction/custody cases: simplified application arrangements for Hague Convention and European Convention on the custody of children cases
  • Civil legal aid cases under the European judgements convention: modified application procedure
  • Civil legal aid cases under the Maintenance Orders: Reciprocal Enforcement
  • Legal aid and cross-border disputes within the European Union: modified application procedure
  • Civil legal aid for maintenance obligation cases under Council Regulations (EC) No. 4/2009: circumstances where no financial assessment required

• Special urgency

  • Cover for work done before a decision on the legal aid application: the nature and types of special urgency
  • Special urgency: satisfying yourself that a client is financially eligible
  • List of circumstances in which you may undertake urgent work without prior approval
  • Arrangements for collection of your client’s contributions in special urgency: the client mandate
  • Assessment of special urgency applications: tests applied by us
  • Special urgency guidance: family cases
  • Rejected or continued applications for civil legal aid: limited circumstance in which special urgency is available
  • The importance of providing reasons for special urgency in the body of your application
  • Special urgency, expenses, and property recovered or preserved: circumstances where we may not be able to pay you
  • Status of your client under special urgency: contributions and requirement to provide financial information
  • Special urgency and extension or amendments to existing legal aid
  • Special urgency and sanction applications: usual sanction procedure applies
  • Special urgency and undertaking necessary collateral work: timing issues
  • Special urgency work’s status: issues your client to be aware where it is not a grant of legal aid
  • Special urgency situations where the client does not comply with our requests for information: potential effects
  • Special urgency: procedure for exemption from court fees

• Cost limits

  • Cost limitations on grants of civil legal aid: how the limit is calculated and what is covered
  • The importance of monitoring your case costs: considering sufficient expenditure
  • Case cost limits: payments from the Fund and judicial expenses cases
  • Applying for funding beyond the standard cost limit: factors to be addressed
  • Seeking a review of the case cost limit applied: procedure and information to provide
  • Applying for an increase beyond the standard cost limit: procedure and information to provide
  • Increases in long running cases or with multiple legally-aided parties: our monitoring role
  • Situations in which retrospective authority for a case cost increase may be granted
  • TOOL: standard cost limit of your case

• After a grant, and prior approval needed

  • After a grant: extensions or amendments to grants of civil legal aid
  • Key points about approval
  • Applying for approval before, during and after a grant of legal aid
  • Employment of counsel
  • Employment of expert witnesses
  • Instructing a medical or health professional
  • Practical guidance to give to witnesses
  • Practical guidance to give to experts
  • Practical guidance to give to shorthand writers
  • Work of an unusual nature or likely to involve unusually large expenditure
  • After a grant: prior approval and the execution of diligence
  • Stage reporting
  • Changes of nominated solicitor
  • TOOL: funding for child welfare report
  • TOOL: sanction required if not acting as an expert?
  • TOOL: find a template sanction
  • TOOL: common types of work involving unusually large expenditure or unusual work

• Changes of circumstances and withdrawal of legal aid

  • Duty to report change of circumstances
  • Duty to report abuse of civil legal aid
  • Our power to amend financial assessment: potential scenarios
  • Suspension of civil legal aid: relevant scenarios and impact
  • Termination of civil legal aid on change of circumstances
  • Regulation 31: termination of legal aid where conduct of your client is incompatible with continued grant
  • Termination of legal aid in cases of false or incomplete information

• High cost and complex cases

  • Civil cases subject to special arrangements: criteria for identifying high cost and/or complex cases
  • Dedicated contact from us in high cost/complex cases
  • Our role in identifying and avoiding duplication of work across high cost/complex civil cases

Advice and Assistance Accounts

• Table of fees

• Introduction to civil A&A and ABWOR fees

  • Introduction to civil A&A accounts legislation
  • Basis on which we assess requests for payment of AA fees and outlays: the standard of taxation
  • Tables of fees available for civil advice and assistance
  • Cases where you are not due payment from the Fund: restrictions on what you can charge your client
  • Civil legal aid already in place
  • What information should you supply with your civil A&A account?

• Payment under civil advice and assistance

  • Assessment of advice and assistance accounts: providing proportionate advice and potential abatements
  • Payment under advice and assistance
  • “First port of call” provisions: payment sources to look to before making a claim on the Fund
  • How to calculate and seek payment for A&A: the role of expenses/property recovered or preserved
  • Payment for A&A where claiming judicial expenses: no claims on Fund or your client

• Diagnostic interview

  • Payment for diagnostic work where standard A&A later becomes available
  • Submission of diagnostic advice and assistance accounts: timebar after three months
  • Diagnostic advice and assistance: definition and expenditure limit

• Who may give advice and assistance

  • Understanding what is properly chargeable in accounts: who can provide advice and assistance?
  • Advice and assistance accounts: delegation of work to unqualified person
  • A&A/ABWOR accounts: what counts as ‘representation’?
  • Advice and assistance accounts: can I undertake chargeable work if my practicing certificate has been restricted?
  • Can I delegate advice and assistance to an out of house professional?
  • Employment of and payment for counsel under A&A: prior authority required

• Preparation and submission of an account

  • Preparing an A&A account: no charge payable
  • Submission of A&A accounts including diagnostics
  • Guidance on submission of accounts where both A&A and civil legal aid have been provided
  • Circumstances where a higher limit of expenditure may be available
  • Vouching: information you should retain in your file
  • A&A accounts and increases in authorised expenditure: what is chargeable and on what basis?

• Accounts - charging

  • A&A accounts: no work chargeable before advice and assistance is granted
  • Providing sufficient narrative information for the assessment of account entries
  • A&A Accounts: fees for the initial meeting and taking instructions from the client
  • Charging for meetings with clients
  • A&A fees payable for letters
  • A&A accounts and telephone calls: rates allowable and information you should provide with the account entry
  • A&A fees payable for the taking of precognitions
  • A&A Accounts: the rate payable for perusal of documents

• The account - outlays

  • A&A accounts: test applied for whether outlays charged are allowable
  • A&A accounts and increases: authorised level of expenditure not automatically payable
  • A&A accounts and counsel’s fees: demonstrating work was reasonable, and procedure for payment
  • A&A accounts and mileage: the flat rate payable
  • Reimbursement of outlays: circumstances in which reimbursement is available
  • A&A outlays and payment for expert reports: requirement of prior approval
  • Outlays payable for experts located at a distance from the tribunal: information you should provide

• Issues arising with different types of A&A

  • A&A for conveyancing work: requirement for increase to be granted and implications for property recovered or preserved
  • A&A charges for Criminal Injuries Compensation Agency work: no fees payable for precognitions

• ABWOR accounts information

  • Civil ABWOR accounts: what is ABWOR and who may provide it?
  • List of ABWOR proceedings for which our prior approval is needed
  • ABWOR accounts and the employment of counsel: requirement of prior approval, and charges for unauthorised advocacy
  • ABWOR and charges for affidavits
  • ABWOR and sequestration proceedings: block fees payable and charges subsumed
  • ABWOR payments for hearings before tribunals
  • ABWOR accounts and instructing local agents
  • ABWOR and our assessment of fees for preparation: specific information required

• Travel

  • When does travel become chargeable under A&A? Information you must be satisfied on
  • A&A and general rules for travel-related charges
  • A&A charges for consecutive days’ travel: is it cost effective?
  • A&A travel costs: steps you should take to ensure costs will meet the statutory tests
  • Payment for travel outwith normal hours: what location will we pay you from?
  • Advice and Assistance accounts and travel: flat mileage rate payable and parking charges
  • Payment for travel and the appropriate apportionment of cost between clients: general policy
  • Travel costs for one destination: attending on multiple clients and when to round up time spent
  • Travel costs where multiple destinations: how to appropriately allocate costs where equal apportionment is not possible

Civil legal aid accounts

• Table of fees

• Introduction to civil reform fees

  • What types of cases are subject to civil reform fees?
  • Submission of account of expenses: when must your final account be submitted by?

• Detailed fees: Court of Session proceedings, Children’s Proceedings, work listed in Schedule 7 and simple procedure cases chargeable under schedule 2A

  • Civil legal aid accounts: Court of Session cases
  • Civil legal aid accounts: Sheriff Appeal Court
  • Civil legal aid accounts: list of sheriff court cases or work items chargeable on a detailed basis
  • Payment for special urgency work in cases which do not proceed to civil legal aid
  • Civil legal aid accounts: Simple procedure cases

• Block fees: sheriff court proceedings (no action raised or undefended)

  • Sheriff court block fees where no action raised: payment in formal and informal settlement scenarios
  • Civil legal aid: fees payable for undefended actions which become defended or vice-versa
  • Civil legal aid fees: fees payable for undefended actions in the sheriff court except those actions of divorce or separation and aliment
  • Civil legal aid fees: fees payable for undefended actions in the sheriff court for actions of divorce or separation and aliment

• Block fees: sheriff court proceedings (defended)

  • Sheriff court cases chargeable on a block fee basis: defended action
  • Civil legal aid block fee accounts: instruction fees
  • Civil legal aid accounts: progress fees for work done before 10 February 2007
  • Civil legal aid accounts: Continued Options Hearing
  • Civil legal aid accounts: fees chargeable for motions and minutes
  • Civil legal aid accounts: list of miscellaneous fees
  • Civil legal aid accounts: summary of settlement provisions and when chargeable
  • Civil legal aid accounts: fees for preparation
  • Civil legal aid accounts: conduct & waiting
  • Civil legal aid accounts: activities covered by the conduct fee
  • Civil legal aid accounts: travel time

• Additional fees and provision for exceptional cases in schedule 2A and schedule 6 cases

  • Civil legal aid accounts: availability of additional fees (‘percentage uplift’)
  • Civil legal aid accounts: factors we consider when assessing additional fee requests in block fee schedule 6 cases
  • Civil legal aid accounts: application for additional fee in Court of Session, Sheriff Appeal Court cases and summary cause proceedings
  • Civil legal aid accounts: Sheriff Appeal Court and Sheriff court – Procedure for applying for an additional Schedule 6 inclusive fee
  • Civil legal aid accounts: applying for an exceptional case application in accounts chargeable under schedule 2A or schedule 6

• Interim payment procedure for fees and/or outlays

  • Civil legal aid accounts: availability of payments to account for fees
  • Civil legal aid accounts: availability of payments to account for outlays

• Ruling on appearance of counsel without an agent

  • Dean of Faculty ruling on appearance of counsel without an agent: relaxation of previous rules and implications

Clawback and expenses

• A&A - clawback and regulation 16(3)

  • Introduction to advice and assistance: property recovered and preserved provisions
  • Payment of A&A fees and outlays: the hierarchy of payments and where you should look to for payment
  • Our definition of property recovered or preserved (advice and assistance)
  • Property recovered or preserved where your client received both A&A and civil legal aid
  • Hardship applications: grave hardship or distress to client or undue difficulty or delay recovering the money – Reg. 16(3)
  • Client hardship applications: Regulation 16(3)(a)
  • Solicitor hardship applications: difficulty or delay in recovering from the applicant
  • Clawback and transfers of agency
  • Review of our refusal under regulation 16(3)(a) or (b)
  • Clawback: our right to recover sums paid out of the Fund from the applicant

• Property recovered or preserved in civil legal aid

  • ‘Clawback’ in civil legal aid: our right to recoupment from property recovered or preserved
  • Legal background and rationale for property recovered or preserved provisions in civil legal aid
  • Property recovered or preserved: calculating the net liability to the Fund
  • Defining ‘recovery and preservation of property’
  • Points in proceedings which may trigger a recovery or preservation of property
  • Recovery or preservation of property in matrimonial proceedings
  • Exemptions from clawback in civil legal aid
  • Concluding a case: information you should provide to help us assess whether property has been recovered or preserved
  • Clawback in civil legal aid: payment and enforcement of the net liability

• Expenses

  • Expenses in favour of an assisted person
  • Expenses awarded against your client
  • Expenses of unassisted party out of the Legal Aid Fund
  • Awards of judicial expenses
  • Judicial expenses and private charging for work done before legal aid was granted

Interpreting and translating

• Legal aid accounts: payment for interpreters
• Payment for translation services
• Pro-forma invoice for interpreter or translator fees
• Interpreter attendance at police stations

Legal aid for contempt of court proceedings

• Civil: General scope of legal aid in contempt of court proceedings
• Who can provide legal aid for contempt of court in civil proceedings? Legal aid registration requirements
• Availability of legal aid for contempt of court proceedings
• Civil: Contempt proceedings at first instance: power of the court to assign you or counsel
• Civil: Legal aid in contempt proceedings at first instance: applying to the court and eligibility criteria
• Civil: Legal aid in contempt appeals: applications to us and tests applied
• Civil: Contempt of court: refusals of legal aid
• Civil: Sanction in contempt of court cases
• Civil: Termination of legal aid in contempt cases: application of Regulation 8 and implications

Carrying out criminal legal assistance

• Table of fees

• Availability of advice and assistance

  • Definition and scope of criminal advice and assistance
  • Criminal ABWOR and “representation”
  • Initial limits and increases in authorised expenditure
  • Who may grant and provide criminal advice and assistance?
  • Who is a person for the purpose of receiving criminal AA?
  • Cases where our prior approval is required to grant criminal A&A
  • Admitting client to A&A and date of commencement of advice
  • Initial checks and steps when granting A&A
  • Single grant under fixed payment ABWOR in summary criminal proceedings
  • Single payment under A&A/ABWOR in criminal proceedings
  • Criminal A&A: our functions and responsibilities, you and the assisted person

• Advice and assistance application procedures

  • Notification of a grant of A&A, provision of ABWOR and your client’s declaration
  • Assessment of financial eligibility for criminal advice and assistance, financial limits in Keycard and contribution
  • Determination of disposable capital and disposable income
  • Financial assessment and verification of capital – to be checked even in passport benefit cases
  • Financial assessment and verification of income
  • Verification of financial eligibility in criminal A&A
  • Verification: application of the tests of “necessary” and “practicable”
  • Advice on obtaining and retaining documentary evidence and the age of documentary evidence
  • Cases where documentary evidence not available immediately
  • Verification where your client is in custody or in prison
  • Multiple grants of advice and assistance
  • The need to work within initial limit of authorised expenditure and increases in authorised expenditure
  • Increases for the employment of counsel, expert witnesses and other third parties
  • Increases in post-conviction ABWOR breaches and reviews, multiple deferred sentences and templates
  • Petition for the removal of a disqualification under section 42 of the Road Traffic Offenders Act 1988
  • Increase requests for Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission cases
  • Advice to or on behalf of children
  • Changes of nominated solicitor under advice and assistance
  • Second solicitor giving advice and assistance on the same matter: prior authority required
  • Procedure for withdrawing from giving advice and assistance/private charging after a grant of advice and assistance

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

  • General scope of ABWOR in summary criminal proceedings
  • The basics of making ABWOR available in summary criminal proceedings
  • Your role to grant ABWOR
  • Our role to do post-grant verification checks – A&A and ABWOR
  • ABWOR where client is not appearing from custody – when is it available?
  • Failure to appear – appearance on a warrant – continued availability of ABWOR
  • ABWOR where client not appearing from custody: the interests of justice test
  • ABWOR in summary cases – assisted person in custody – “appointed solicitor”
  • Definition of “appointed solicitor” and principal criteria for acting
  • Criteria and conditions to act as appointed solicitor
  • Examples of situations where you cannot appear as appointed solicitor on behalf of a client
  • Change of solicitor under summary criminal ABWOR

• Assistance by way of representation in other criminal proceedings

  • General scope of ABWOR in non-summary criminal proceedings
  • Eligibility criteria for general ABWOR (other than ABWOR in summary criminal proceedings)
  • The provision of general criminal ABWOR
  • General ABWOR proceedings for which a financial test is necessary
  • Proceedings under the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995
  • Double jeopardy cases
  • General ABWOR proceedings for which a financial test is not necessary
  • ABWOR proceedings needing our prior authority
  • Recovery proceedings under ABWOR needing our prior authority

• Assistance by way of representation in parole board proceedings

  • Provision of A&A and ABWOR in Parole Board cases: introduction
  • ABWOR in Parole Board cases: relevant legal aid regulations and Parole Board rules
  • Availability of ABWOR for Parole Board cases: specific categories of prisoner
  • Parole Board procedure: governing rules and process
  • Parole Board cases: scope of ABWOR available and initial limit of expenditure
  • Parole Board cases: eligibility criteria for ABWOR
  • Parole Board cases: increases in authorised expenditure
  • Parole Board interviews: outwith scope of ABWOR

• General availability of criminal legal aid

  • Scope and nature of criminal legal aid
  • Who may provide criminal legal aid
  • Distinct proceedings, bail, preliminary pleas, reduction from solemn to summary, desertion of proceedings, remits to the High Court
  • Separate applications for legal aid under summary and solemn procedure
  • When to make an application for automatic criminal legal aid, solemn and summary criminal legal aid and an appeal case
  • Criminal legal aid for a referral to the European Court, compatibility issues and the UK Supreme Court

• Automatic availability of criminal legal aid

  • Availability of automatic criminal legal aid
  • Automatic legal aid for an identification parade
  • Automatic legal aid for solemn proceedings
  • Automatic legal aid for summary proceedings, duty solicitors and appointed solicitors
  • Automatic legal aid for cases involving mental health issues, pleas in bar of trials, mental health proof, examination of facts, section 62 or 63 appeals
  • Automatic legal aid for new prosecution for the same or similar offence
  • Automatic legal aid for cases involving sexual offences, child witnesses, vulnerable witnesses and the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018
  • Intimation form for automatic criminal legal aid

• Court duty solicitor arrangements

  • Our obligation to make a court duty solicitor available
  • Identification parades and purposes for which a court duty solicitor must be available in solemn and summary procedures
  • Continuity of representation outwith your period of court duty
  • Circumstances in summary custody cases when only the court duty solicitor may give legal aid
  • Criminal court duty plans, eligibility criteria and consultation with local faculties
  • Delegating or exchanging court duty work
  • Responsibilities and obligations of the court duty solicitor and the relationship with the nominated solicitor
  • Duty solicitor payment arrangements, identification parade fees, follow up fees, preliminary pleas, failure to appear, appointed solicitors, duty solicitor/half fee, prevaricating witness
  • Advice and assistance when acting as court duty solicitor

• Criminal legal aid applications to the court

  • Applications to the court for legal aid in a summary 23(1)(b) case
  • How to complete a court application form CRIM/COURTAPP

• Applications for Exceptional Case Status in summary criminal proceedings

  • Exceptional case status application in summary proceedings
  • Factors we take into account when assessing exceptional case status

• Applications in summary criminal proceedings

  • Availability of criminal legal aid in summary proceedings
  • Applying for legal aid in summary proceedings
  • Time limit for applications in summary proceedings
  • Statutory criteria for a grant of criminal legal aid in summary proceedings
  • Statutory factors to be taken into consideration when applying the interests of justice test in JP Court cases
  • Special urgency in summary criminal proceedings
  • Review of a refusal of an application in summary proceedings
  • Glasgow Alcohol Court and other problem Solving Courts 

• Financial eligibility for summary criminal legal aid

  • Undue hardship test in summary criminal legal aid applications
  • Assessing disposable income
  • Assessing disposable capital
  • Changes in financial circumstances

• Applications in solemn proceedings

  • Availability of legal aid in solemn criminal proceedings
  • Legal Aid Online applications for solemn legal aid
  • Limited availability if your client has other rights and facilities
  • Assessment of undue hardship in solemn proceedings
  • Special urgency and solemn legal aid
  • Procedure for review of our decision to refuse legal aid

• Financial eligibility for solemn criminal legal aid

  • Assessing disposable income in solemn proceedings
  • Undue hardship test in solemn criminal legal aid applications
  • Assessing disposable capital
  • Changes in financial circumstances

• Criminal legal aid applications for appeals

  • General availability of criminal legal aid for appeals and status as distinct proceedings
  • Choosing the right legal aid declaration form for criminal appeals
  • Supporting documentation you should provide in a legal aid application for a criminal appeal
  • Availability of special urgency for criminal appeals
  • Appeal applications where financial eligibility test to be applied and information on assessing a client’s disposable income
  • Information on assessing a client’s disposable capital where financial test to be applied in a criminal appeal application
  • Availability of legal aid in appeals for a client with other rights or facilities to assist with legal costs
  • Timing issues: when to apply for legal aid for a criminal appeal
  • Criminal legal aid for late appeals
  • Legal aid application for an appeal where leave to appeal is not required
  • Review of our refusal to grant legal aid for a criminal appeal
  • Criminal legal aid and a Crown appeal: is a separate legal aid application required?
  • Availability of legal aid and tests you should address in an application for legal aid for an appeal to the UK Supreme Court
  • Power of the High Court to determine interests of justice test in appeal applications
  • Legal aid for an appeal by a person convicted of an offence who has since died Criminal legal aid for appeals in Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission cases
  • Criminal legal aid for appeals in Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission cases

• Work that needs our prior approval after legal aid granted

  • Applying for prior approval

• Approval for counsel

  • Approval for counsel – test, definitions and principles
  • Circumstances where approval for counsel is required
  • Approval of counsel in the Sheriff court – factors we will consider
  • Approval of counsel at the Petition stage in High Court proceedings
  • Applications for employment of senior counsel, more than one junior counsel and senior counsel acting alone
  • What work our approval covers

• Approval for an expert witness

  • Application for the employment of an expert witness
  • Employment of a professional (including witnesses as to fact)
  • Employment of expert witnesses

• Approval for unusual work or unusually large expenditure

  • Work of an unusual nature or likely to involve unusually large expenditure
  • Circumstances when you need to apply for approval and when this is not required
  • Approval for costs of special measures for child witnesses and vulnerable adult witnesses
  • Taking defence statements in High Court cases

• High cost cases

  • Criminal cases subject to special arrangements
  • How we assist you in high cost/complex cases
  • Our role in identifying and avoiding duplication of work across high cost cases
  • Good practice in complex criminal cases – High Court Protocol

• Change of solicitor

  • Nominated solicitor ceasing to act for the assisted person
  • Client dispensing with your services
  • Assisted person wants another solicitor to act
  • Turnaround time for applications for change of solicitor

• Termination of criminal legal aid

  • Termination of criminal legal aid by the court
  • Termination of criminal legal aid by us

• Proceeds of crime

  • Criminal and civil legal aid in proceeds of crime cases
  • Proceeds of crime work where legal aid granted at first instance
  • Proceeds of crime work where no legal aid in the first instance

Legal aid for contempt of court proceedings

• Criminal: General scope of legal aid in contempt of court proceedings
• Criminal: Who can provide legal aid for contempt of court? Legal aid registration requirements
• Criminal: Availability of legal aid for contempt of court proceedings
• Criminal: Contempt proceedings at first instance: power of the court to assign you or counsel
• Criminal: Legal aid in contempt proceedings at first instance: applying to the court and eligibility criteria
• Criminal: Legal aid in contempt appeals: applications to us and tests applied
• Criminal: Contempt of court: refusals of legal aid
• Criminal: Sanction in contempt of court cases
• Criminal: Termination of legal aid in contempt cases: application of Regulation 8 and implications

Criminal fixed payment accounts

• Table of fees

• 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 – Stipendiay 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

Interpreting and translating

• Legal aid accounts: payment for interpreters
• Payment for translation services
• Pro-forma invoice for interpreter or translator fees
• Interpreter attendance at police stations

Children's Advice and Assistance

• Table of fees

• Availability of Advice and Assistance

  • What is advice and assistance?
  • Who may provide advice and assistance?
  • Who can receive advice and assistance?
  • Does your client have any other rights and facilities?
  • What does advice and assistance cover?
  • Questions to ask your client when assessing their eligibility
  • Summary of your responsibilities in providing advice and assistance
  • Payment of Safeguarders and Curators Ad Litem in children’s hearings court proceedings
  • Appointment and payment of safeguarders where the safeguarder is a practicing solicitor
  • Appointment and payment of curators ad litem who are also practicing solicitors
  • Advice and assistance cannot be given by safeguarders and curators ad litem

• Advice and Assistance Application Procedures

  • Applying for advice and assistance: choosing the correct category code, and advice and assistance applications on behalf of – or directly by – a child
  • Assessment of your client’s financial eligibility
  • Advice and assistance declaration form
  • Time limit for intimation of application to us
  • Multiple grants of advice and assistance
  • Situations where fresh grants of advice and assistance are required for the same client
  • The limit of authorised advice and assistance expenditure
  • Change of nominated solicitor
  • Second solicitor giving advice and assistance on the same matter
  • Procedure for withdrawing from giving advice and assistance
  • Private charging after a grant of advice and assistance
  • Can children’s advice and assistance be given at the same time as children’s legal aid?
  • Could a client receiving advice and assistance end up paying money recovered or preserved back to the Legal Aid Fund?

• Verification of financial eligibility for children’s advice and assistance and ABWOR

  • The purpose of verification of financial eligibility
  • Capital eligibility: must be checked even if your client is receiving a passported benefit
  • Client’s eligibility on income
  • Cases where no documentary evidence of eligibility is immediately available
  • Verification in prisoners’ cases
  • What period should documentary evidence cover?

• Increases in authorised expenditure

  • When increases in children’s cases are required: different types of hearings
  • Appeals against decisions of children’s hearing
  • Appeals to the Sheriff Appeal Court and/or Court of Session
  • Increases for employment of counsel
  • Independent Reports and Assessments for children’s hearings
  • Independent experts attending and participating at children’s hearings
  • Increase requests by Curators ad litem
  • The availability of increases for attending Social Work case conferences, Child in Care Reviews, adoption matching panels and other such meetings
  • The availability of increases for pre-Hearing visits

• Assistance by Way of Representation for children’s proceedings

  • General scope of ABWOR in proceedings under the 2011 Act
  • Templated increases in authorised expenditure for certain hearing types where ABWOR has been granted
  • Availability of ABWOR to a child
  • Availability of ABWOR to relevant persons and deemed relevant persons in 2011 Act proceedings
  • Availability of ABWOR to a “section 126 individual”
  • Availability of ABWOR to a “non-deemed relevant person”
  • The effective participation test
  • When fresh grants or applications for ABWOR are required
  • When fresh grants of advice and assistance (not ABWOR) are required
  • Examples of when you should make a fresh grant or application for ABWOR or where an increase request is sufficient for the next hearing

Children's Legal Aid

• Table of fees

• Legal Aid for Children’s Proceedings under the 2011 Act

  • General scope of children’s legal aid
  • Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011
  • Availability of children’s legal aid
  • Online declaration/your client’s declaration
  • Other proceedings for which children’s legal aid is not available
  • Exclusion Orders – S76 to 80 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995
  • Distinct proceedings for legal aid purposes

• Sheriff Court Applications for children’s legal aid

  • General – applications to us
  • Cases concerning multiple children: multiple applications by Relevant Persons or other adult individuals not required
  • Application directly by a child for children’s legal aid for children’s court proceedings
  • Application for children’s legal aid on behalf of a child
  • Application for children’s legal aid by a safeguarder
  • Applications for children’s legal aid by a curator ad litem
  • Statutory criteria for legal aid for sheriff court proceedings where your client is a child
  • Statutory criteria for legal aid for sheriff court proceedings where your client is a relevant person or deemed relevant person
  • Statutory criteria for legal aid for sheriff court appeal proceedings relating to deemed or undeemed relevant person status
  • Statutory criteria for legal aid for sheriff court appeal proceedings where client is a section 126 individual
  • Other rights and facilities
  • Supporting information you should send with application for children’s legal aid for sheriff court proceedings
  • Conditions on grants of legal aid
  • Review of refusal of legal aid or conditions on the grant of legal aid

• Financial Assessment

  • Financial conditions
  • Period of computation
  • Resource of partners
  • How we calculate income
  • How we assess capital
  • Undue Hardship
  • Contributions
  • Special circumstances which may affect financial assessment

• Appeals to the Sheriff Appeal Court and Court of Session

  • General – applications to us
  • Multiple applications not required
  • Application directly by a child
  • Application made by a representative (other than you as the child’s solicitor) on behalf of a child
  • Application by a safeguarder
  • Application by a curator ad litem for appeals to Sheriff Appeal Court or Court of Session
  • Statutory criteria for legal aid for appeals to the Sheriff Appeal Court and Court of Session where your client is a child
  • Statutory criteria for legal aid for appeals to the Sheriff Appeal Court and Court of Session where your client is a relevant person/deemed relevant person
  • Statutory criteria for legal aid for appeals to the Sheriff Appeal Court and Court of Session where your client is seeking deemed relevant person status or has been undeemed relevant
  • Statutory criteria for legal aid for appeals to the Sheriff Appeal Court and Court of Session where your client is a section 126 individual
  • Other rights and facilities
  • Supporting information you should send with the application
  • Appeals from the Sheriff Appeal Court to the Court of Session
  • Representations from the Children’s Reporter (or other party)
  • Appeals by the children’s reporter
  • Grants of legal aid subject to conditions
  • Review of refusal of legal aid or conditions attached to grant of legal aid
  • No payment can be claimed after successful appeal after refusal of legal aid
  • Legal aid cover where there is a successful appeal and a remit to the sheriff court for disposal

• Special Urgency

  • Special Urgency cover for steps in court proceedings before a decision is made on a legal aid application
  • The Declaration
  • Guidance on applying for cover for special urgency
  • Availability of special urgency cover after full legal aid is refused
  • Sanction applications before a grant of full legal aid is made
  • Status of your client
  • Legal aid application must be submitted within 28 days of commencement of urgent work
  • Extent of a grant of special urgency
  • What happens if your client does not comply with our requests for information?

• Procedures after legal aid is granted

  • What work requires prior sanction from us?
  • General guidance on sanction for counsel
  • Applying for sanction for counsel
  • Factors that may justify the employment of junior counsel
  • Sanction for senior counsel acting alone or with junior counsel in children’s court proceedings
  • Instructing a solicitor advocate instead of an advocate
  • What work will sanction for counsel cover?
  • When you need sanction to employ an expert
  • Applying for sanction to employ an expert
  • Selecting an appropriate expert
  • Prior approval required for experts and limitations on their costs
  • Sanction for unusual expenditure or work likely to involve unusually large expenditure
  • What information should be provided in support of an application for sanction for unusual expenditure or work likely to involve unusually large expenditure?
  • Sanction for unusual work or work likely to incur unusually large expenditure – special measures for child witnesses and vulnerable adult witnesses
  • Taking precognitions in children’s hearings proof proceedings and disclosure of evidence by the Reporter
  • Viewing a Joint Investigative Interview (JII)
  • Reconsideration of sanction refusals or part grants
  • Changes of nominated solicitor and withdrawing from acting

• High cost or complex cases

  • High cost and complex cases
  • Dedicated staff members in high cost/complex cases
  • When we may contact SCRA and other parties regarding high cost and complex cases
  • Case management meetings between us and a party or parties in a high cost/complex case

• Changes in circumstances and withdrawal of legal aid

  • Duty to report change of circumstances
  • Duty to report abuse of legal aid
  • Our power to amend assessment
  • Suspension of legal aid
  • Termination of legal aid on change of circumstances
  • Termination of children’s legal aid other than on change of circumstances
  • Termination of legal aid in cases of false or incomplete information

Children's Duty Scheme

• Table of fees

• PVG registration requirements

  • PVG registration requirement for the children’s duty scheme
  • How to PVG register for the first time
  • How to update your current PVG registration

• Duty Scheme and Recommendation Requests

  • The Children’s Duty Scheme and Automatic Legal Aid
  • Operation of duty scheme
  • The children’s duty scheme and providing automatic legal aid
  • When your appointment as duty solicitor ceases
  • Claims for payment for the provision of automatic legal aid by the duty solicitor
  • Recommendation requests – Rule 50 and 61

Legal aid for contempt of court proceedings

• Children’s: General scope of legal aid in contempt of court proceedings
• Children’s: Who can provide legal aid for contempt of court? Legal aid registration requirements
• Children’s: Availability of legal aid for contempt of court proceedings
• Children’s: Contempt proceedings at first instance: power of the court to assign you or counsel
• Children’s: Legal aid in contempt proceedings at first instance: applying to the court and eligibility criteria
• Children’s: Legal aid in contempt appeals: applications to us and tests applied
• Children’s: Contempt of court: refusals of legal aid
• Children’s: Sanction in contempt of court cases
• Children’s: Termination of legal aid in contempt cases: application of Regulation 8 and implications

Children's Accounts

• Table of fees

• Interim claims of fees and outlays

  • Eligibility for interim reimbursement of fees and outlays
  • Procedure for seeking payment of interim outlays / fees

• Introduction to children’s legal aid fees

  • Introduction to Children’s accounts legislation
  • Basis on which we assess requests for payment of children’s fees and outlays: the standard of taxation
  • Tables of fees available for children’s legal aid
  • What information should you supply with your children’s legal aid account?

• Who may undertake work under a grant of children's legal aid?

  • Understanding what is properly chargeable in accounts: who can undertake work under a grant of children’s legal aid

• Submission of accounts

  • Preparation of account expenses
  • Timely submission of account of expenses
  • Essential information to include in an account
  • Account entries – narrative
  • Related or linked accounts
  • Supporting documentation to submit with an account

• Detailed fees

  • What supporting information will be needed to justify fees charged
  • Detailed fees for automatic children’s legal aid
  • Sheriff Court (excluding automatic legal aid and ABWOR)
  • Court of Session
  • Uplift in Fees not available
  • Commencement of chargeable work
  • Charges for attending court
  • Charging for meetings and consultations
  • Perusal charges
  • Charges for preparation and research
  • Charges for telephone calls
  • Charges for affidavits and precognitions
  • Charges for framing documents
  • Charges for citations, letters and electronic communication
  • Charges for miscellaneous work

• Travel

  • Fees chargeable for travel

• The Account (outlays)

  • Including outlays within your account
  • Travel outlays
  • General guidance on witness expenses applicable to all witness types
  • Outlays for expert witnesses cited to attend court
  • Outlays for professional witnesses cited to attend court
  • Outlays for ordinary witnesses cited to attend court
  • Fees payable to Sheriff officers and Messengers at arms
  • Counsels fees

Interpreting and translating

• Legal aid accounts: payment for interpreters
• Payment for translation services
• Pro-forma invoice for interpreter or translator fees
• Interpreter attendance at police stations

Practice notes

• Practice Note No 2, 2018: Children’s referrals
• Practice Note No. 1, 2018: Children’s Referrals Under The Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011

Children (Scotland) Act 1995

• Applications for children’s legal aid for an application to the sheriff for a review of a finding under section 85 of the Children (Scotland) Act 1995 and onward appeals to the SAC and COS