Citation and commencement

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Civil and Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) Regulations 2015 and come into force on 23rd March 2015.

Amendments to the Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013

2. —(1)The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013( 3 ) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 2(1) (interpretation), in the definition of “the relevant contract”, after “2010 Standard Civil Contract,” insert “the 2010 Standard Crime Contract,”.

(3) In Schedule 1—

(a) in Part 1 (Civil Standard and Graduated Fees), in Table 1—

(i) omit “Schedule Authorisation” in the heading of the second and third columns, and

(ii) in the entry for “Miscellaneous”, after the sub-category “(employment)”, in the second and third columns, respectively, insert—

(b) in Part 3 (Hourly Rates – Licensed Work)—

(i) in Table 10(a), in the heading after “Schedule Authorisation” insert “or injunctions under Part 1 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and related parenting orders”, and

(ii) in Table 10(b), in the heading after “Schedule Authorisation” insert “(except as in Table 10(a))”.

Amendments to the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013

3. —(1)The Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013( 5 ) are amended as follows.

(2) In regulation 3(2) (scope), after “magistrates’ courts,” insert “to proceedings in the County Court,”.

(3) In Schedule 1 (Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme), in Part 7 (Table of Offences), under the heading “Class H: Miscellaneous other offences”, for the first and second entries substitute—

(4)Schedule 4 (Rates Payable for the Claims Specified in Regulation 8) is amended as follows.

(5) For paragraph 1 (Interpretation of this Schedule) substitute—

“ Interpretation of this Schedule

1. In this Schedule—

(a) unless the context otherwise requires, words and expressions have the same meaning as in the 2010 Standard Crime Contract, and

(b) “the 2014 Act” means the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. ” .

(6) In paragraph 5 (Representation in the Magistrates’ Court)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (1), after “rates” insert “for representation in a magistrates’ court (except where paragraph 5A applies)”;

(b) in sub-paragraph (2), after “a magistrates’ court” insert “(except where paragraph 5A applies)”, and

(c) in sub-paragraph (3)—

(i) after paragraph (a)(i) insert—

“ (ia) guilty pleas in proceedings for low-value shoplifting as defined in section 22A(3) of the Magistrates’ Court Act 1980 ( 8 ) (low-value shoplifting); ” ;

(ii) in paragraph (a)(iii) and (iv), after “offences” insert “or proceedings referred to in sub-paragraph (ia)”, and

(iii) in paragraph (b), after “proceedings” insert “(other than proceedings referred to in paragraph (a)(ia))”.

(7) After paragraph 5 insert—

“ Representation in proceedings relating to an injunction under Part 1 of the 2014 Act or related parenting order in any court

5A. —(1) This paragraph applies to proceedings prescribed as criminal proceedings under section 14(h) of the Act (other than an appeal) relating to—

(a) an injunction under Part 1 of the 2014 Act; or

(b) a parenting order under section 8(1)(b) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 ( 9 ) where an injunction is granted under Part 1 of the 2014 Act.

(2) The fixed amounts and hourly rates for—

(a) determining whether the lower or higher fee limit has been reached, and

(b) claiming costs in cases which fall outside the fixed fee limits, are specified in the table following this sub-paragraph.

(3) The table following this sub-paragraph sets out the fees and fee limits for representation in any court.

(4) The hourly rate for travelling and waiting in any court is £24.00. ” .

(8) In paragraph 7 (Representation in proceedings prescribed as criminal proceedings under section 14(h) of the Act)—

(a) in sub-paragraph (1), after “a magistrates’ court” insert “or where paragraph 5A applies”;

(b) in the heading of the table following sub-paragraph (1), for “Magistrates’ Court’” substitute “Crown Court”, and

(c) in sub-paragraph (2), after “the Act” insert “(except where paragraph 5A or paragraph 10 applies)”.

(9) In paragraph 10 (Representation in the Crown Court on an appeal from a magistrates’ court in proceedings prescribed as criminal proceedings under section 14(h) of the Act), after “the Act” insert “or an appeal to the County Court relating to an injunction under Part 1 of the 2014 Act or a parenting order under section 8(1)(b) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 made in connection with an injunction under Part 1 of the 2014 Act”.

Transitional provision

4. —(1) The amendments made by regulation 3(3) do not apply to a determination under section 15 (advice and assistance for criminal proceedings) or section 16 (representation for criminal proceedings) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 for advice and assistance or representation for relevant criminal proceedings.

(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1), “relevant criminal proceedings” means the following criminal proceedings whenever commenced—

(a) breach of an anti-social behaviour order under section 1(10) (anti-social behaviour orders) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998( 10 ), and

(b) breach of a sex offender order under section 2(8)( 11 ) (sex offender orders) of that Act.

(3) The amendments made by regulation 3(6)(c) apply to the determination of a claim for fees on or after 23rd March 2015.