All applications received on or after 1 April for the payment of compensation to, or in respect of, persons who have sustained criminal injury, will be considered under the new scheme made under the Criminal Injury Compensation Act 1995.The date of the application determines whether the old or the new scheme will apply.

Applications received before 1 April 1996 will be considered under the old common law scheme.

The new Criminal Injury Compensation Authority (CICA) will keep the old systems in place until all outstanding cases have been decided, and this could continue for about two years.

The new scheme is based on a 'tariff' under which standard amounts of compensation will be paid to eligible applicants depending upon the nature and severity of their injury.

The applicant's age, sex and other circumstances will have no bearing on this standard amount of compensation.

More than 300 injuries are specified in the tariff with levels of awards varying between, for example, £1000 for temporary partial deafness to £250,000 for permanent serious brain damage.Where the applicant has suffered separate but serious multiple injuries the standard amount of compensation will be calculated as the tariff amount for the highest rated description of injury, plus 10% of the tariff amount for the second highest rated description of injury, plus 5% of the tariff amount for the third highest rated description of injury.

The total amount payable to the victim and/or the family cannot exceed £500,000.

There is no 'cap' under the common law scheme.

The CICA is now able to pay awards as structured settlements; this will also apply to awards made under the common law scheme for applications made before 1 April 1996.

Where the applicant has lost earnings or earning capacity for longer than 28 weeks as a direct consequence of the injury, loss of earning and special expenses may be payable in addition to the standard tariff award.Loss of earnings applies for a period beginning 28 weeks after the start of the incapacity for work.

This will be the net loss of earnings, after taking into account the usual deductions and social security benefits, payments under insurance arrangements and pension receipts.If there is likely to be a continuing future loss of earnings, earning capacity or a loss of future pension entitlement, this will be calculated on a multiplicand and/or multiplier basis.

The scheme includes a table of applicable multipliers.

However, reference may be made to the actuarial tables published by the government's actuary's department.

Any rate of net loss of earnings will not exceed one-and-a-half times gross average industrial earnings, as applies under the common law scheme.Special expenses may include the reasonable costs of medical treatment, special equipment, adaptations to accommodation and care, although the expense of unpaid care provided at home by a relative will only be paid by assessing the carer's loss of earnings and/or additional personal expenses.In fatal cases compensation may be payable for funeral expenses, for dependency and for bereavement.

In the latter case compensation will be payable to a broader class of relatives than under the common law scheme, at the rate of £10,000, but this is 'shared' if there is more than one claimant.There are also substantial changes to eligibility and the way in which applications will be determined.The time limit for submitting an application from the date of the injury has been reduced to two years.

As this will create some anomalies, because the t ime limit applying up to 31 March 1996 was three years, the CICA has indicated that it will exercise its discretion to accept late applications flexibly and sympathetically in the early days of the new scheme.Applications by rescuers for purely psychiatric injuries and by members of the emergency services for accidental injuries will no longer be eligible for awards.All applications will be decided by claims officers of the CICA, not single members of the board.

Applicants may seek a review of a claims officer's decision by a more senior officer, but only within 90 days.There is a further right of appeal from a decision made at review with a time limit of 30 days.

Appeals will be considered by members of the panel of the new CICA and a hearing may be arranged.

However, there is no right to a hearing.The criminal injuries compensation scheme, the guide to the scheme, forms and supplementary guides for loss of earnings/special expenses and fatal cases are all available from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority, which can be contacted on 0141 331 2726.SOLICITORS SHOULD PARTICULARLY NOTE-- The new time limits for applications and time periods for reviews and appeals.-- That obtaining full medical evidence will be very important in ensuring a client is offered the appropriate standard amount of compensation, particularly in the case of multiple injuries: the applications of the tariff and the percentage system for multiple injuries is likely to create anomalies.-- That because of the restrictions on awards to relatives for unpaid care it will be important to assemble carefully evidence for loss of earnings or other expenses incurred by the relative.-- That reference can be made to the actuarial tables (Ogden tables) for assessing multipliers for future loss of earnings: practitioners need to become familiar with these as the choice of multiplier can make a substantial difference to an award.-- That structured settlements may be beneficial to clients who are likely to receive large awards, in particular the Society's civil litigation committee will be publishing guidance on structured settlements in the next few months.-- That the new scheme, like the common law one, makes no provision for legal fees.