The Legal Aid (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2015

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Civil Legal Aid (Scotland) (Fees) Regulations 1989, the Criminal Legal Aid (Scotland) (Fees) Regulations 1989, the Criminal Legal Aid (Scotland) Regulations 1996 and the Criminal Legal Aid (Fixed Payments) (Scotland) Regulations 1999.

The amendments—

• provide for a criminal appeal to the Sheriff Appeal Court to be treated as a distinct matter for the purposes of legal aid;

• expand the definition of “solicitor advocate” in the Criminal Legal Aid (Scotland) (Fees) Regulations 1989 to include solicitor advocates acting in relation to criminal appeals to the Sheriff Appeal Court;

• prescribe the fees payable to solicitors and counsel in relation to bail appeals to the Sheriff Appeal Court;

• revise the table of fees applying to junior counsel in judicial review proceedings to take account of the new procedure introduced by section 89 of the 2014 Act; and

• make provision in relation to the fees payable in relation to proceedings in an all-Scotland sheriff court established under section 41 of the 2014 Act and in relation to civil hearings for which no fee is otherwise prescribed.