Legal Aid Agency
Providers now have new guidance to help when submitting claims for criminal offences not currently listed in the:
- Litigators Graduated Fee Scheme (LGFS) table of offences
- Advocates Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS) banding document
What does this mean for providers?
Unlisted offences will fall by default under either band 17.1 (AGFS) or Class H (LGFS). Providers may apply to the Legal Aid Agency (LAA) to have the new offence placed into another band or class when they submit their payment claim.
The updated guidance will help when making your application.
How does the process work?
There are 2 ways in which you make an application for rebanding or reclassification:
- complete the claim in Claim for Crown Court Defence (CCCD) with an equivalent offence and provide details of the actual offence being claimed for in the notes field, or
- claim a band 17.1 or class H offence in CCCD and detail the actual band/class being claimed in the notes field
What happens next?
The case will then be assessed in the usual manner to determine the correct offence to pay.
This will mean checking to see if the unlisted offence appears in the tables at appendix S of the Crown Court fee guidance. If we can see the offence, we will pay the suggested alternative banding or class without the need for further justification.
Where a different band or class is requested, or where the offence does not appear in the tables, justification must be provided.
For offences already listed in the AGFS banding document or the LGFS table of offence, there is no right to request a rebanding or reclassification.
Why is this happening now?
The updated guidance:
-
responds to representations made by criminal practitioners that many new criminal offences have been introduced since the remuneration regulations were last updated
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provides greater transparency around our processes for rebanding and reclassifying unlisted offences
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informs providers of offences commonly requested for reclassification or rebanding and likely to be reclassified or rebanded when requested
Further information
Crown Court fee guidance for updates, see section 2.3 (AGFS), section 3.3 (LGFS),