LEGAL AID CERTIFICATE UNDER DEVOLVED POWERSQ: When can I grant an emergency legal aid certificate under devolved powers?A:; The most important consideration is that you must have a contract for the specific field of law concerned.

For example, if you have a contract for family and housing work only, you cannot grant a certificate under devolved powers in a case within the actions against the police category.Secondly, you must only grant a certificate where the conditions of urgency are met.

If you will need to carry out work within three weeks, and your local Legal Services Commission (LSC) office will turn around a standard application within two, you cannot grant yourself an emergency certificate.Thirdly, you must put the appropriate limitations on your self-granted certificate.

The costs condition must limit what you can do to £1,500 -- not £2,500 as is standard for a funding certificate granted by the LSC.

You must also place on the certificate a restriction limited strictly to those steps that must be taken urgently.

There is also a mandatory time limitation of four weeks from the date of grant.Finally, you must send the full application to the LSC within five days of granting the certificate under devolved powers.

If for any reason you cannot do so, you must stop acting and should send the application with as much of the necessary information as you have and an explanation as to why you do not have everything that should be included (for example, the client's employer has failed to return the L17).In limited circumstances, you can amend an emergency certificate under devolved powers.

You can only amend within the four-week life of the emergency certificate, and you cannot amend to extend the time, or if an offer of a substantive certificate is outstanding.

The amendment can only be for additional work that still meets the urgency criteria, and for work that meets the general test for representation under the funding code.

Except in certain family proceedings, you cannot amend the certificate to cover new proceedings not covered by the original grant.

The costs limit may be amended up to a maximum of £10,000, but any limit over £2,500 must be justified with a written report signed by the franchise supervisor and forwarded to the LSC with the application forms.Full details of the powers can be found in the funding code guidance section headed 'emergency representation'.POST CHARGE POLICE STATION ASSISTANCE PAYMENTSQ: How do I get paid under the criminal contract for dealing with an identity parade held post-charge?A: The definition of the criminal investigations class of work at paragraph 2.2.1 of the contract specification states that 'this class also includes post charge police station advice and assistance on the same matter .

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which is being undertaken before the date of any early hearing in the magistrates' court being fixed, eg attendance at an identification parade'.

Paragraph 3.2.1 defines the criminal proceedings class of work as including 'post-charge police station work provided a court hearing date has been fixed'.

So the determining factor as to the class into which the work falls is whether or not a hearing date has been fixed.If no hearing date has been fixed, then the work falls into the criminal investigations class.

By the definition of the scope of the class, the work is within the police station advice and assistance scheme, and is payable at the usual police station rates (which in turn will depend on which version of the contract you are running).If a hearing date has been fixed, the work comes within the criminal proceedings class.

Here, the rates structure is somewhat different.

It includes advice and assistance, but it does not on the face of it include separate rates for police station advice and assistance.

Therefore, it would appear that the work must be classed simply as advice and assistance.

However, the commission has recently clarified that such work is paid at police station advice and assistance rates even when it falls within the criminal proceedings class.

Where a representation order is granted, the costs must be rolled up into the costs claimed under the order.SOLICITOR-ADVOCATES MIGHT RECEIVE FAMILY FEESQ: How does the family graduated fee scheme affect me?A: The family graduated fee scheme is a new scheme for paying advocates for work in family cases.

At present, it applies only to barristers, but it may be applied to solicitor-advocates in the future.The scheme applies to work carried out under a funding certificate granted on or after 1 May 2001.

Barristers can claim set fees for specific items of work at different stages of the case.

These can be enhanced by 'special issue payments' if certain factors are present which are considered to make the proceedings more complex, such as a litigant in person, more than one expert, or serious abuse of a child whose welfare is in issue.For solicitors, there seemed to be little in the scheme that would be relevant to them.

The main effect was that where there is no hearing, the solicitor has to complete a new form, CLSADMIN 5, to verify the work claimed by counsel.

This form has to be sent to counsel to enable him or her to claim their fees.However, a recent decision of the Bar Council means that solicitors may no longer be able to instruct the barrister of their choice.

A barrister is obliged by professional regulations to accept any instructions if a reasonable fee is payable; and in the past, there has been a specific rule to say that any fee under legal aid is deemed reasonable.

The bar was so concerned about what it saw as the large cut in barristers' fees that the graduated fee scheme would entail that it passed a rule saying that a fee under the scheme wo uld not be deemed to be a reasonable fee.

Therefore, a barrister is entitled to refuse instructions that fall under the scheme on the grounds that the fee payable is not reasonable.There is already anecdotal evidence of some barristers refusing to accept work under the graduated fee scheme.

Others are looking at alternative ways of working to make the scheme work for them.

Still others are delegating work to more junior barristers.

If you regularly instruct counsel on legally aided family matters, you should contact the barristers you use now to find out what their approach to the scheme is, and, if necessary, seek out alternative counsel willing to act under the scheme.-- Questions for this column should be sent to Richard Miller at 93 Turnmill Street, London EC1M 5TQ, DX 53339 Clerkenwell or e-mail: richard@lapg.co.uk.Mr Miller cannot answer questions other than through this column, unless they are from members of the Legal Aid Practitioners Group.