Explanatory note

These Regulations amend the Criminal Legal Aid (General) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/9) (“the General Regulations”), which make provision for determinations in relation to whether an individual qualifies for criminal legal aid under Part 1 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10) (“the Act”).

Regulation 4 amends regulation 12 of the General Regulations. Regulation 12(2) of the General Regulations sets out the prescribed conditions that must be met before advice and assistance for criminal proceedings may be made available to an individual under section 15 of the Act. Regulation 4(2) amends the prescribed conditions to restrict the provision of advice and assistance regarding an individual’s sentence to cases that relate to the calculation of the total period of time that the individual must serve in custody before either being entitled to release by the Secretary of State (where the prisoner is automatically released without consideration by the Parole Board), or becoming eligible for consideration by the Parole Board for a direction that the prisoner be released.

Regulation 4(3) amends the prescribed conditions to restrict the provision of advice and assistance in prison law cases to an individual’s disciplinary hearing in a prison or young offender institution where the proceedings engage Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, or where the governor has exercised the governor’s discretion to allow advice and assistance in relation to the hearing.

Regulation 4(4) and (5) amends the prescribed conditions to restrict the provision of advice and assistance in proceedings before the Parole Board to those proceedings where the Parole Board has the power to direct the individual’s release.

Regulation 5 substitutes regulation 24 of the General Regulations to provide that where the Director makes a determination that an individual is financially eligible for legal aid in magistrates’ court proceedings the Director must also make a determination that the individual is eligible for legal aid in the Crown Court in relation to those proceedings.

Regulation 6 substitutes regulation 25(1) of the General Regulations to require the Director of Legal Aid Casework to consider the application for legal aid in the Crown Court of an individual determined to be financially ineligible for legal aid in relation to proceedings in the magistrates’ court, where the proceedings continue in the Crown Court other than on appeal.

Regulation 7 provides that the amendments made by regulation 4 do not apply to cases in which an application for advice and assistance is made prior to 2nd December 2013. Regulation 8 provides that the amendments made by regulation 5 and 6 apply to any application for a determination made on or after 27th January 2014.

A full impact assessment of the effect of the policy implemented by this instrument on the costs of business and the voluntary sector was produced with the Government’s response to consultation, Transforming Legal Aid: Next Steps and is available at https://consult.justice.gov.uk/.