The Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (General) (Amendment) Regulations 1999

Amendments to the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (General) Regulations 1989

5.  The following shall be inserted after regulation 54A:–

“Power to certify for attendance

54B.— (1) A judge of the Crown Court shall have power to certify that attendance on the authorised advocate instructed in those proceedings is required for the whole or part of any hearing specified in regulation 6(5A) of the Legal Aid in Criminal and Care Proceedings (Costs) Regulations 1989(1).

(2) In deciding whether attendance is required for the whole or any part of a hearing, the judge shall have regard to the following factors, in addition to any other factors which he considers to be relevant:–

(a) on which days if any the attendance of a significant number of defence witnesses is likely to be required;

(b) where the hearing is a trial, the amount of documentary evidence likely to be adduced on behalf of the defence;

(c) the likelihood of the legally assisted person disrupting the proceedings if the authorised advocate were to appear alone;

(d) whether the authorised advocate represents more than one legally assisted person;

(e) on which days if any the authorised advocate is likely to require notes of the proceedings to be taken for the proper conduct of the defence.

(3) An application for a certificate under paragraph (1) may be made at or at any time after the pleas and directions hearing or, if there is to be no pleas and directions hearing, at or at any time after the listing of the first hearing of the case; and in either case the application may be made orally or in writing.”.

(1)

S.I. 1989/343; relevant amendments are S.I. 1990/488, 1991/529 and 2037, 1992/592, 1993/934, 1994/1477, 1995/952, 1996/644 and 2655, 1997/1010, 1998/1191 and 1999/345.