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Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

Please note:

All reference to 'Parts' and 'sections' are from the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. For other versions of these Explanatory Notes, see More Resources.

  1. Introduction

  2. Background

    1. Part 1: Legal aid

    2. Part 2: Litigation funding and costs

    3. Part 3 Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders

  3. Summary

    1. Part 1: Legal Aid

      1. Civil legal aid

      2. Criminal legal aid

      3. Contributions and costs

      4. Providers of services

    2. Part 2: Litigation funding and costs

    3. Part 3: Sentencing and punishment of offenders

      1. Chapter 1: Sentencing

      2. Chapter 2: Bail

      3. Chapter 3: Remand of children otherwise than on bail

      4. Chapter 4: Release on licence etc.

      5. Chapter 5: Dangerous offenders

      6. Chapter 6: Prisoners etc

      7. Chapter 7: Out of court disposals

      8. Chapter 8: Rehabilitation of offenders

      9. Chapter 9: Offences

  4. Territorial Extent and Application

    1. Provisions in the Act that extend to Northern Ireland

    2. Provisions in the Act that extend to Scotland

    3. Provisions in the Act that apply in Wales

  5. Commentary

    1. Part 1: Legal Aid

      1. Provision of legal aid

        1. Section 1: Lord Chancellor’s functions

        2. Section 2: Arrangements

        3. Section 3: Standards of service

        4. Section 4: Director of Legal Aid Casework

        5. Section 5: Delegation

        6. Section 6: Authorisations

        7. Section 7: Annual report

      2. Civil legal aid

        1. Section 8: Civil legal services

        2. Section 9: General cases

      3. Schedule 1: Civil legal services

        1. Introduction

      4. Section 10: Exceptional cases

      5. Section 11: Qualifying for civil legal aid

      6. Section 12: Determinations

      7. Criminal legal aid

        1. Section 13: Advice and assistance for individuals in custody

        2. Section 14: Criminal proceedings

        3. Section 15: Advice and assistance for criminal proceedings

        4. Section 16: Representation for criminal proceedings

        5. Section 17: Qualifying for representation

        6. Section 18: Determinations by Director

        7. Section 19: Determinations by court

        8. Section 20: Provisional determinations

      8. Financial resources

        1. Section 21: Financial resources

        2. Section 22: Information about financial resources

      9. Contributions and costs

        1. Section 23: Payment for services

        2. Section 24: Enforcement

        3. Schedule 2: Criminal legal aid: motor vehicle orders

        4. Section 25: Charges on property in connection with civil legal services

        5. Section 26: Costs in civil proceedings

      10. Providers of services etc

        1. Section 27: Choice of provider of services etc

        2. Section 28: Position of providers of services

        3. Section 29: Code of conduct

        4. Section 30: Position of other parties, courts and tribunals

      11. Supplementary

        1. Section 31 and Schedule 3: Legal aid for legal persons

        2. Schedule 3: Legal aid for legal persons

        3. Section 32: Foreign law

        4. Section 33: Restriction on disclosure of information about financial resources

        5. Section 34: Restriction on disclosure of other information

        6. Section 35: Exceptions from restriction under section 34

        7. Section 36: Misrepresentation

        8. Section 37: Status of the Director and Lord Chancellor

        9. Section 38: Abolition of Legal Services Commission

        10. Schedule 4: Transfer of employees and property etc of Legal Services Commission

        11. Section 39 and Schedule 5: Consequential amendments

        12. Section 40 and Schedule 6: Northern Ireland: information about financial resources

        13. Section 41: Orders, regulations and directions

        14. Section 42: Interpretation

    2. Part 2: Litigation funding and costs

      1. Payments for legal services in civil cases

        1. Section 44: Conditional fee agreements: success fees

        2. Section 45: Damages-based agreements

        3. Section 46: Recovery of insurance premiums by way of costs

        4. Section 47: Recovery where body undertakes to meet costs liabilities

        5. Section 48: Sections 44 and 46 and diffuse mesothelioma proceedings

        6. Section 49: Divorce etc proceedings: orders for payment in respect of legal services

        7. Section 50: Divorce etc proceedings: matters to be considered by court making legal services order

        8. Section 51: Divorce etc proceedings: orders for sale of property

        9. Section 52: Dissolution etc proceedings: orders for payment in respect of legal services

          Section 53: Dissolution etc proceedings: matters to be considered by court making legal services order

          Section 54: Dissolution etc proceedings: orders for sale of property

      2. Offers to settle

        1. Section 55: Payment of additional amount to successful claimant

      3. Referral fees

        1. Section 56: Rules against referral fees

        2. Section 57: Effect of rules against referral fees

        3. Section 58: Regulation by FSA

        4. Section 59: Regulators and regulated persons

        5. Section 60: Referral fees: regulations

      4. Pro bono representation

        1. Section 61: Payments in respect of pro bono representation before the Supreme Court

      5. Costs in criminal cases

        1. Section 62 and Schedules 7 and 8: Costs in criminal cases

    3. Schedule 7: Costs in criminal cases

    4. Schedule 8: Costs in criminal cases: service courts

    5. Part 3: Sentencing and punishment of offenders

      1. Chapter 1: Sentencing

        1. General

          1. Section 63: Duty to consider compensation order

          2. Section 64: Duty to give reasons for and to explain effect of sentence

        2. Community orders

          1. Section 66: Duration of community order

          2. Section 67: Breach of community order

        3. Suspended sentence orders

          1. Section 68 and Schedule 9: Changes to powers to make suspended sentence order

          2. Schedule 9: Changes to powers to make suspended sentence orders: consequential and transitory provision

          3. Section 69: Fine for breach of suspended sentence order

        4. Requirements under community orders and suspended sentence orders

          1. Section 70: Programme requirement

          2. Section 71: Curfew requirement

          3. Section 72: Foreign travel prohibition requirement

          4. Section 73: Mental health treatment requirement

          5. Section 74: Drug rehabilitation requirement

          6. Section 75: Alcohol treatment requirement

          7. Section 76: Alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirement

          8. Section 77: Piloting of alcohol abstinence and monitoring requirements

          9. Section 78: Overseas community orders and service community orders

        5. Youth sentences

          1. Section 79: Referral orders for young offenders

          2. Section 80: Breach of detention and training order

          3. Section 81: Youth rehabilitation order: curfew requirement

          4. Section 82: Youth rehabilitation order: mental health treatment requirement

          5. Section 83: Youth rehabilitation order: duration

          6. Section 84: Youth rehabilitation order: fine for breach

        6. Fines

          1. Section 85: Removal of limit on certain fines on conviction by magistrates’ court

          2. Section 86: Power to increase certain other fines on conviction by magistrates’ court

          3. Section 87: Power to amend standard scale of fines for summary offences

          4. Section 88: Withdrawal of warrants of control issued by fines officer

        7. Repeal of uncommenced provisions

          1. Section 89 and Schedule 10: Repeal of sections 181 to 188 of Criminal Justice Act 2003

      2. Chapter 2: Bail

        1. Section 90 and Schedule 11: Amendment of bail enactments

      3. Schedule 11: Amendment of enactments relating to bail

      4. Chapter 3: Remands of children otherwise than on bail

        1. Remands

          1. Section 91: Remands of children otherwise than on bail

          2. Section 92: Remands to local authority accommodation

          3. Section 93: Conditions etc on remands to local authority accommodation

          4. Section 94: Requirements for electronic monitoring

          5. Section 95: Requirements for electronic monitoring: extradition cases

          6. Section 96: Further provisions about electronic monitoring

          7. Section 97: Liability to arrest for breaking conditions of remand

        2. Remands to youth detention accommodation

          1. Section 98: First set of conditions for a remand to youth detention accommodation

          2. Section 99: Second set of conditions for a remand to youth detention accommodation

          3. Section 100: First set of conditions for a remand to youth detention accommodation: extradition cases

          4. Section 101: Second set of conditions for a remand to youth detention accommodation: extradition cases

          5. Section 102: Remands to youth detention accommodation

        3. Supplementary

          1. Section 103: Arrangements for remands

          2. Section 104: Looked after child status

          3. Section 105 and Schedule 12: Minor and consequential amendments

          4. Section 106: Regulations under this Chapter

          5. Section 107: Interpretation of Chapter 3

      5. Chapter 4: Release on licence etc

        1. Calculation of days to be served

          1. Section 108: Crediting of periods of remand in custody

          2. Section 109: Crediting of periods of remand on bail

          3. Section 110 and Schedule 13: Amendments consequential on sections 108 and 109

        2. Release

          1. Section 111 and Schedule 14: Prisoners serving less than 12 months

          2. Section 112: Restrictions on early release subject to curfew

        3. Further release after recall

          1. Section 113: Cancellation of revocation of licence

          2. Section 114: Further release after recall

        4. Other provisions about release

          1. Section 115: Supervision of young offenders after release

          2. Section 116: Miscellaneous amendments relating to release and recall

          3. Section 117: Replacement of transitory provisions

          4. Section 118: Repeal of uncommenced provisions

        5. Life sentence prisoners

          1. Section 119: Removal of prisoners from the United Kingdom

        6. Application and transitional provision

          1. Section 120: Application and transitional etc provision

          2. Schedule 15: Application of sections 109 to 120 and transitional and transitory provision

          3. Section 121: Simplification of existing transitional provisions

      6. Schedule 16: Amendments of Criminal Justice Act 2003: transitional and consequential provisions

      7. Schedule 17: Restatement of transitional provision

      8. Chapter 5: Dangerous Offenders

        1. Section 122 and Schedules 18 and 19: Life sentence for second listed offence

          1. New section 224A

          2. Section 122(2) and (3) and Schedules 18 and 19

        2. Section 123: Abolition of certain sentences for dangerous offenders

        3. Section 124: New extended sentences

          1. New section 226A

          2. New section 226B

        4. Section 125 and Schedule 20: New extended sentences: release on licence

          1. New section 246A

        5. Schedule 20: Release of new extended prisoners: consequential provision

        6. Section 126: Sections 123 to 125: consequential and transitory provision

        7. Section 127: dangerous offenders subject to service law

        8. Section 128: Power to change test for release on licence of certain prisoners

      9. Chapter 6: Prisoners etc

        1. Section 129: Employment in prisons: deductions etc from payments to prisoners

        2. Section 130: Transfer of prisoners: prosecution of other offences

        3. Section 131: Transit of prisoners

      10. Chapter 7: Out of court disposals

        1. Penalty notices

          1. Section 132 and Schedule 23: Penalty notices for disorderly behaviour

        2. Cautions

          1. Section 133: Conditional cautions: involvement of prosecutors

          2. Section 134: Conditional cautions: removal etc of certain foreign offenders

        3. Youth cautions

          1. Section 135 and Schedule 24: Youth cautions

        4. Schedule 24: Youth cautions: consequential amendments

        5. Youth cautions

          1. Section 136: Youth conditional cautions: previous convictions

          2. Section 137: Youth conditional cautions: references to youth offending teams

          3. Section 138: Youth conditional cautions: involvement of prosecutors

      11. Chapter 8: Rehabilitation of Offenders

        1. Section 139: Establishment or alteration of rehabilitation periods

        2. Section 140: No rehabilitation for certain immigration or nationality purposes

        3. Section 141: Transitional and consequential provision

      12. Schedule 25: Rehabilitation of offenders: consequential provision

      13. Chapter 9: Offences

        1. Section 142 and Schedule 26: Offences of threatening with article with blade or point or offensive weapon in public or in school premises

        2. Section 143 and Schedule 27: Causing serious injury by dangerous driving

        3. Section 144: Offence of squatting in a residential building

        4. Section 145: Scrap metal dealing: increase in penalties for existing offences

        5. Section 146: Offence of buying scrap metal for cash etc

        6. Section 147: Review of offence of buying scrap metal for cash etc

        7. Section 148: Reasonable force for the purposes of self-defence etc

    6. Part 4: Final provisions

      1. Section 149: Power to make consequential and supplementary provision etc

      2. Section 151: Commencement

      3. Section 152: Extent

      4. Section 153: Channel Islands, Isle of Man and British overseas territories

  6. hansard references

  7. ANNEX A

  8. ANNEX BTable of contents for Schedule 1

  9. ANNEX CDetailed explanatory note for Part 1 of Schedule 1

  • Explanatory Notes Table of contents

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Explanatory Notes

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