Legal Aid Information

Legal Aid Information

Police Station

Anyone who is to be interviewed under caution at the police station, either under arrest or as a volunteer is entitled to have a solicitor either present to advise them in person or speak to them on the telephone FREE OF CHARGE. 

Therefore, any advice and assistance received whilst you are at the police station is free.  Any advice and assistance you require outside of the police station in relation to an investigation is not covered by the fixed fee we receive from the Legal Aid Agency and you will have to pay privately.  

Magistrates Court

Legal Aid is available by applying to the Legal Aid Agency to cover your case in the Magistrates Court. The decision to award Legal Aid is made on the basis of both the details of your case (called the interests of justice test) and the financial information you provide (called the means test). It is, therefore, important that when you are completing the Forms or providing information to us that you do this accurately.  Where necessary you will also need to provide evidence to support the information you provide. If you do not tell the truth when completing your Legal Aid Application about your assets, income and expenditure, you could be prosecuted.  If your application meets the criteria set by the Legal Aid Agency, you will be granted a legal representation order. We are happy to assist you in completing the forms.

Providing the interests of justice test is passed and the following income applies to you below then you will automatically qualify for Legal Aid:

• You are under 18 when making the application;
• You are in receipt of Income Support, Income Based Job Seekers Allowance, Universal Credit, Guaranteed State Pension Credit or Income Related Employment Support Allowance.  You will need to provide your National Insurance Number so that the Legal Aid Agency can check you are in receipt of the qualifying benefit.

In all other circumstances, your finances will be assessed to decide whether you are eligible for Legal Aid. Your annual household income and family circumstances will be taken into account.

• If your annual household income is £12,475 or less, you will be eligible for Legal Aid.
• If your annual household income is £22,325, or more, you are not eligible for Legal Aid.
• If your annual household income is more than £12,475 but less than £22,325, the Legal Aid Agency will then look at your disposable income.  They take in to account an allowance for your partner, children, housing costs and council tax and a standard amount is allowed for some bills such as gas or electricity. Any debts are not taken into account in this assessment.
• If you are left with £3,398 or less per year (£283.17 or less a month), you will get Legal Aid.
• If your disposable income is more than £3,398 a year (£283.17 a month), you are not eligible to receive Legal Aid.

The assessment of your income makes an allowance for a partner or any children that you have living with you, so it is important that you include details of these on the Forms. 

If Legal Aid is refused, you will have to pay for your legal costs if you want to be represented. We have set out our private rates in this information sheet or a private rate can be agreed with the solicitor who has conduct of your case.   If you do not think you can afford to pay privately, or you think a mistake has been made you can ask for a review of the Legal Aid assessment to be made or a Hardship application can be made. Any decision to refuse Legal Aid on the basis of your means is out of our control. 

Summary Only Offences

If your case is one that can only be dealt with in the Magistrates Court and we will advise you as to whether your case is a Summary only offence, the firm’s costs in representing you will be paid under the terms of the Legal Representation Order as granted by the Legal Aid Agency.  You will not have to contribute towards your defence costs.

If you decided to appeal to the Crown Court against any sentence or conviction that you received in the Magistrates’ Court, you would need to make a fresh application for a Legal Representation Order to cover those proceedings.

For your information if you were to plead guilty to a Summary Only offence an estimate of what we would be paid by the Legal Aid Agency for conducting the proceedings on your behalf is £158.27 excluding VAT.  This is the lowest standard fee allowable.   To this fee will be added the cost of travelling, waiting and any disbursements.  The estimate may change if the matter proves to be more complicated or extensive than at first thought.

If you were to plead not guilty to a Summary only offence and have a trial an estimate of what we would be paid by the Legal Aid Agency for conducting the proceedings on your behalf is £279.45 excluding VAT.  This is the lowest standard fee payable to us.  There is a higher standard fee of £640.94 excluding VAT which we may be paid depending on the amount of work carried out on the file and the complexity of the trial.  To this fee will be added the cost of travelling, waiting and any disbursements.  The estimate may change if the matter proves to be more complicated or extensive than at first thought.

Either Way Offences dealt with in the Magistrates Court

If your case is one that can be dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court or the Crown Court known as an either way offence, we will advise you as to whether the offence is either way, providing a Legal Representation Order has been granted the Firm’s costs in representing you will be paid by the Legal Aid Agency.  If you matter is dealt with in the Magistrates Court, you will not have to contribute towards your defence costs.  

For your information if you were to plead guilty to an either way offence dealt with in the Magistrates Court an estimate of what we would be paid by the Legal Aid Agency for conducting the proceedings on your behalf is £194.68 excluding VAT.  This is the lowest standard fee allowable.   To this fee will be added the cost of travelling, waiting and any disbursements.  The estimate may change if the matter proves to be more complicated or extensive than at first thought.

If you were to plead not guilty and chose to have your trial in the Magistrates Court an estimate of what we would be paid by the Legal Aid Agency for conducting the proceedings on your behalf is £279.45 excluding VAT.  This is the lowest standard fee payable to us.  There is a higher standard fee of £640.94 excluding VAT which we may be paid depending on the amount of work carried out on the file and the complexity of the trial.  To this fee will be added the cost of travelling, waiting and any disbursements.  The estimate may change if the matter proves to be more complicated or extensive than at first thought.

You will not have to make an income or capital contribution towards your defence costs. 

Should you be convicted after trial or plead guilty to the charge you face and you are committed to the Crown Court for sentence, your Legal Representation Order will be extended to cover the sentencing hearing.  You will not have to make an income or capital contribution towards your defence costs.

Should your financial circumstances change you are under a duty to tell the Court as this could affect the grant of your Legal Representation Order. 

Crown Court Legal Aid

If your case goes to the Crown Court for trial, you will automatically qualify for legally aided representation once you have fully completed the application forms and provided any necessary information. 

Your financial situation will be assessed with one of the following outcomes:

1. You do not have to pay for the work that we do for you because you have been granted Legal Aid to cover all of your costs.
2. You have to pay a contribution towards our costs because you can afford to pay from your income, capital or both.  You will have to pay a contribution towards your defence costs if your annual disposable income is above £3,398.  The assessment takes in to account an allowance for your partner, children, housing costs and council tax and a standard amount is allowed for some bills such as gas or electricity. Any debts are not taken into account in this assessment.

Where you are required to pay towards your legal costs you will receive a Contribution Order from the Court giving details of how much to pay and how to make the payments.  The first payment will be due within 28 days of your case being, sent or transferred for Trial in the Crown Court.   The payments will be collected by a private company called Rossendales on behalf of the Legal Aid Agency and they will also write to you.  Any contributions to your Legal Representation Order you have to make or is enforced by the Legal Aid Agency and the non-payment of a contribution is not something in our control.  If you do not think you can afford to pay privately, or you think a mistake has been made you can ask for a review of the Legal Aid assessment to be made or a Hardship application can be made. 

If you pay your contribution late or do not pay it at all the Court have the power to imposes sanctions such as the Legal Aid Agency charging interest, recouping the money owed by debt collectors and placing charging orders on any property you own. If any of the above occurs, you will be sent a letter from the Court or Rossendale’s and it is between you and the Court to resolve the issue.  We have no involvement in the imposition of these sanctions and therefore the Court, Legal Aid Agency or debt collectors must be contacted by you. 

You must tell the Legal Aid Agency about any changes to your financial circumstances during your case because a change may affect the amount you have to pay towards your defence costs. 

1. You have to pay privately for all the work that we do for you. If your annual household disposable income is £37,500 or more, you will not be eligible for Legal Aid in the Crown Court.

You will not have to pay towards the costs of your case in the Crown Court if you are under 18 when you make your application or if you receive any of the following benefits: income support, income based jobseeker’s allowance, guaranteed state pension credit or income-related employment and support allowance. 

At the end of your case in the Crown Court, if you are found not guilty, any contribution payments you have made will be refunded with interest.  If you paid late or not at all and action was taken against you, the costs of this action will be deducted from the refund.

If you are found guilty, you may have to pay towards your defence costs from any capital assets you may have. This applies only if:

• you have £30,000 or more of assets, for example; savings, equity in property, shares or Premium Bonds; AND
• Any payments you have already made have not covered your total defence costs.

You will be told at the end of your case if you have to make a payment from capital. The Legal Aid Agency will notify you of the amount you owe once your legal costs have been finalised and details as to how to make payment.  Rossendales is responsible for the collection and enforcement of Crown Court Legal Aid contributions. 

Defence Costs in the Crown Court

Providing you have been granted a Legal Representation Order, the Legal Aid Agency pay us fixed fees in the Crown Court. That fee is dependent on the type of offence and its seriousness, your plea of guilty or not guilty and if you change your plea to guilty or whether a trial is conducted in the Crown Court. In addition, the number of pages of prosecution evidence are also taken into account when the fee is calculated.   If we instruct a Higher Court Advocate or Barrister, they receive a separate fixed fee for representing you.  As the fees vary and especially in relation to trials are case specific, should you wish to know what we are likely to be paid by the Legal Aid Agency in relation to your Crown Court case, please contact us.

If your Legal Representation Order is revoked, we would be unable to continue acting for you under the terms of the Legal Representation Order.  We would contact you immediately to discuss the other options that would be available to fund your representation.  We may in these circumstances have to account to you privately for our costs in representing you as long as this had been agreed between us and out in writing. Please note that it is in very rare circumstances that a Legal Representation Order is revoked.