The Criminal Legal Assistance (Miscellaneous Amendments) (Scotland) Regulations 2017

Explanatory note

Reproduced verbatim from the instrument as published on legislation.gov.uk (Crown Copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0). The note is prepared by the responsible government department and is not part of the instrument itself.

These Regulations amend several regulations made under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986.

Changes are made in consequence of the coming into force on 25th January 2018 of Part 1 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 (arrest and custody) (“the 2016 Act”), which replaces existing provisions on arrest and detention. Related to that:

transitional provision is made in regulation 2 for those persons that are arrested or detained on the 24th January and are still under arrest or detained on the 25th January when Part 1 of the 2016 Act comes into force;

the fees payable for criminal legal assistance in respect of proceedings under Part 1 of the 2016 Act are set out in the Advice and Assistance (Scotland) Regulations 1996.

Regulation 3 amends regulation 11(1) of the Criminal Legal Aid (Scotland) Fees Regulations 1989 to specify the auditor of the Sheriff Appeal Court as the relevant auditor in relation to taxation in the Sheriff Appeal Court instead of the Auditor of the Court of Session.

A Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment has been prepared for these Regulations and placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre. Copies can be obtained from the Scottish Government Justice Directorate, St Andrews House, Edinburgh EH1 3DG.