Means testing plan for courts slated

Legal aid solicitors have raised serious concerns about plans to introduce means testing in the Crown Courts, warning they could cause more delays and cost more than they save.

Rules launched by the Department for Constitutional Affairs last week, devised to determine how the Criminal Defence Service Bill will run in practice, propose a range of limits for various cases, including lump-sum payments of £1,500 for Crown Court cases that fail the magistrates' court test, and monthly contributions in other cases where clients fall down on the means tests.


Rodney Warren, director of the Criminal Law Solicitors Association (CLSA), said although it supported the principle that those who can pay should cough up, the restricted limits meant too many clients would be unable to provide the documentation for the tests, leading to more delays and adjournments.


'The impact on the savings for legal aid is something nobody can actually predict,' he argued. 'A rolling or continuous review of the financial impact is needed.'


Richard Miller, director of the Legal aid Practitioners Group, agreed that some of the proposals, such as the order for monthly contributions, could cause trouble. 'As well as being bureaucratic, these leave the defendant liable to be penalised financially for the inefficiencies of the prosecution,' he warned.