Assessment of claims for interim payment of fees and outlays
183.Paragraph 21 of schedule 4 temporarily inserts provisions into section 33 of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 which modify the level of scrutiny the Scottish Legal Aid Board must apply in their assessment of claims for interim fees or outlays. The effect of these new provisions is that the Board need not consider supporting evidence in order to be satisfied that the fees and outlays claimed for have been properly incurred; where a claimant for interim payment confirms that the fees or outlays claimed have been properly incurred, the Board will accept this. These provisions apply to all aspects of legal aid.