2008 No. 957

Legal Services Commission, England And Wales

The Criminal Defence Service (Funding) (Amendment) Order 2008

Made

Laid before Parliament

Coming into force

The Lord Chancellor makes this Order in exercise of the powers conferred by section 14(3) of the Access to Justice Act 19991.

He has had regard to the matters specified in section 25(3) of that Act and has consulted the General Council of the Bar and the Law Society in accordance with section 25(2) of that Act.

Citation, commencement and interpretation1

1

This Order may be cited as the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) (Amendment) Order 2008 and comes into force on 24th April 2008.

2

In this Order “the 2007 Order” means the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) Order 20072.

Amendments to the 2007 Order

2

In article 3(6A) of the 2007 Order, after “Cases” insert “, except as provided in paragraph 25 of Schedule 2”.

3

After paragraph 24 of Schedule 2 to the 2007 Order insert—

Very High Cost Cases25

1

This paragraph applies where, in a Very High Cost Case, a litigator instructs an advocate who is not a member of a Very High Cost Case (Crime) Panel, in accordance with the contract.

2

The litigator may claim payment from the Commission in respect of work undertaken by the advocate and authorised in accordance with the contract.

3

Where such a claim is made, the Commission must pay the litigator at rates no higher than the rates set out in the tables following this paragraph.

4

In this paragraph “the contract” means the Very High Cost Case contract for panel members, made between the Commission and panel members and dated 2nd April 20083.

5

In the tables following this paragraph—

a

a reference in the first table to a category is a reference to that category as defined in the contract;

b

a reference in the first table to a level A or B solicitor-advocate is a reference to a level A or B solicitor-advocate as defined in the contract;

c

a reference in the second table to a junior includes a solicitor-advocate.

Preparation (hourly rates)

Category 1

£

Category 2

£

Category 3

£

Category 4

£

Counsel

QC

145

113

91

91

Leading junior

127

100

79

79

Led junior

91

73

61

61

Junior alone

100

82

70

70

2nd led junior

63

50

43

43

Solicitor-advocate

Leading level A

145

113

91

91

Led level A

127

100

79

79

Leading level B

127

100

79

79

Led level B

104

86

66

66

Level A alone

131

109

88

88

Level B alone

113

95

75

75

Second advocate

63

50

43

43

Advocacy

Preliminary hearing

£

Half day

£

Full day

£

QC

113

238

476

Leading junior

86

195

390

Led junior

58

126

252

Junior alone

67

143

285

Second led junior

34

64

128

Noter

29

55

109

Travelling, waiting and mileage

£25 per hour for travelling (up to a maximum of four hours in one day) or waiting

£0.45 per mile for mileage

Signed by authority of the Lord Chancellor

HuntParliamentary Under Secretary of StateMinistry of Justice
EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order amends the Criminal Defence Service (Funding) Order 2007 (S.I. 2007/1174), which provides for the funding and remuneration of services provided under Part 1 of the Access to Justice Act 1999 as part of the Criminal Defence Service. This Order provides that in a Very High Cost Case where a litigator instructs an advocate who is not a member of a panel for such cases he may apply to the Legal Services Commission for payment in respect of the advocate’s work, where the instruction is made, and the work done, in accordance with the Commission’s contract for those cases. It then sets out the maximum payments which the Commission may make.

No separate impact assessment has been prepared for this Order, as it is not expected to have any different impact on businesses, charities or voluntary bodies from that of the introduction of the very high cost case regime as a whole, for which an assessment was prepared by the Legal Services Commission which is available at www.legalservices.gov.uk or from the Legal Services Commission, 85 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1X 8TX.