Explanatory note

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Criminal Legal Aid (Scotland) Regulations 1987 (S.I. 1987/307) (“the principal Regulations”) to take account of amendments made to section 25 (legal aid in appeals) of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 (c. 47) (“the 1986 Act”) by section 65 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995 (c. 20) and brought into force on 26th September 1995 by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 1995 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional Provisions and Savings) Order (S.I. 1995/2295).

The Regulations—

(a)

extend the list of proceedings treated as distinct for the purposes of criminal legal aid to include appeals to the High Court of Justiciary against disposals other than by way of sentence (regulation 3);

(b)

amend the reference in regulation 13(1) of the principal Regulations to section 25 of the 1986 Act to include appeals against disposals other than by way of sentence (regulation 4(a));

(c)

make provision in relation to an application for criminal legal aid in respect of an appeal under section 228(1) or 442(1)(a) of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21) where the person was, before 26th September 1995, convicted or found to have committed the offence (regulation 4(b)); and

(d)

provide that an application to which section 25(2)(c) of the 1986 Act applies shall include a statement of the grounds of appeal and any other circumstances which the applicant considers relevant to enable the Scottish Legal Aid Board to be satisfied that it is in the interests of justice that the applicant should receive criminal legal aid (regulation 4(c)).