The Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013

Remuneration for civil legal services: inquests

9.—(1) This regulation applies to the payment by the Lord Chancellor of remuneration for civil legal services provided in relation to inquests.

(2) The Lord Chancellor must pay remuneration to the provider of civil legal services in relation to an inquest in the form of legal help in accordance with—

(a) the relevant contract; and

(b) the fees and rates in Part 1 and Part 2 of Schedule 1 that are applicable to the Category Definition most relevant to the circumstances giving rise to the inquest.

(3) The Lord Chancellor must pay remuneration for civil legal services provided in relation to an inquest in the form of other legal services in accordance with—

(a) the relevant contract; and

(b) subject to paragraph (4), the rates set out in Schedule 4.

(4) If, due to exceptional circumstances, the Lord Chancellor considers it reasonable to do so, instead of paying remuneration in accordance with the rates set out in Schedule 4, the Lord Chancellor may pay remuneration—

(a) to organisations, in accordance with the payment rates set out in Section 7 of the 2010 VHCC Contract (for organisations); and

(b) to self-employed advocates, in accordance with the payment rates set out in Section 7 of the 2010 VHCC Contract (for self-employed advocates).

(5) In paragraph (4), “exceptional circumstances” must relate to one or more of the following—

(a) the unusual length of the inquest;

(b) the volume of material; or

(c) the complexity of the issues.

(6) In paragraph (4), “the 2010 VHCC Contract (for organisations)” and “the 2010 VHCC Contract (for self-employed advocates)” means the contracts so named between the Lord Chancellor and a person for the provision of representation for the purposes of criminal proceedings under section 16 of the Act(1).

(1)

The contracts are available at www.justice.gov.uk/legal-aid. Copies can be inspected at the Legal Aid Agency (Head Office) at 102 Petty France, London SW1H 9AJ.