Legal Aid Agency
Changes are being made which mean it will no longer be necessary to submit a:
- representation order number for prior authority applications (CRM4s)
- hard copy representation order with magistrates court non-standard fee claims
CRM4 prior authority applications
It will no longer be necessary for providers to confirm the representation order number when submitting an application for prior authority (CRM4).
This means that providers will be able to submit an application for prior authority before they receive a paper copy of the representation order. Representation orders will continue to be sent out in all instances.
Providers should note the following:
- representation order number field will still be mandatory on the CRM4 eForm system, but this can be bypassed by inserting 10 zeros
- MAAT number will still be mandatory, as this will allow us to check that a rep order is in place for each individual, and also to check the offences coveredProviders do not need to wait for the representation order to arrive to find the MAAT number it can be found on the eForm portal.
- representation order date will remain mandatory. Providers should complete this field with the application date stamp for applications granted in magistrates court proceedings or with the date you submitted a fully completed application to the LAA for Crown Court proceedings
CRM7 magistrates court non-standard fee claims
Providers no longer need to send in a representation order for any CRM7s with a representation order dated after 1 August 2015. Representation orders with an issue date before this will still need to be provided.
You should note that this change will only apply where there has not been any transfer of the representation order.
If any transfer has taken place, providers will still need to send in the representation order confirming the date that they were authorised to start work.
Why are we making these changes now?
Were making these changes following the completion of the transfer of grant for representation orders from HM Courts and Tribunals Service.
This has sparked a review of our processes. For example, our announcement in July 2015 that its no longer necessary to submit a representationorder for every Crown Court Claim see below.