# The Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2014, Note: Explanatory note


(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/435) (“the 2013 Regulations”) which make provision for the funding and remuneration of advice, assistance and representation made available under sections 13, 15 and 16 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c. 10).
Regulation 2(3) and the Schedule introduce interim payment of fees for litigators in proceedings in the Crown Court. Effectively, a litigator may make a claim for an interim payment at one or both of two stages in proceedings. The first is where a not guilty plea is entered following a plea and case management hearing (regulation 17A(2)(a) as set out in the Schedule), or alternatively, where a retrial is ordered and representation has been transferred to a new litigator (paragraph (2)(b)). However, an interim fee is not available at this stage in cases committed or sent for trial to the Crown Court on the election of a defendant (paragraph (3)). The second stage is where the trial is listed for 10 days or more and the trial has commenced (paragraph (2)(c)).
Paragraphs (11) to (14) of new regulation 17A set out the mechanisms for calculating the amount of each interim payment. Any hardship payment made under regulation 21 of the 2013 Regulations will be deducted from any subsequent claim for an interim payment under new regulation 17A and vice versa (regulation 21 of the 2013 Regulations, as amended by regulation 2(4) of these Regulations, and paragraphs (16) and (17) of new regulation 17A). Regulation 2(5) includes payments under new regulation 17A among the interim payments to be deducted from the final claim under regulation 22 of the 2013 Regulations.
The fee regime for certain cracked trials and guilty pleas is amended for advocates and litigators. Regulation 2(6) and (7) excludes from the fixed fees applicable to cases committed or sent for trial to the Crown Court on the election of a defendant a case where the trial is a cracked trial because the prosecution offer no evidence on all counts and the judge directs that a not guilty verdict be entered. The graduated fee scheme will apply in these cases.
The amendments made by these Regulations apply to criminal proceedings in which a determination under section 16 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 is made on or after 2nd October 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: Government Response and is available at https://consult.justice.gov.uk/.

---
Source: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/2422/note (the official version)
Page: https://openlegislation.uk/criminal-legal-aid-remuneration-amendment-no2-regulations-2014/note
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives.