Citation and commencement

1.  These Regulations may be cited as the Criminal Legal Aid (Amendment) Regulations 2018 and come into force on 12th June 2018.

Amendments to the Criminal Legal Aid (General) Regulations 2013

2.-(1) Regulation 12 (prescribed conditions)(2) of the Criminal Legal Aid (General) Regulations 2013 is amended as follows.

(2) In paragraph (2)(d)(iii), after "Category A Prisoner" insert "or as a Restricted Status Prisoner".

(3) At the end of paragraph (2)(d)(iv), omit "or".

(4) In paragraph (2)(d)(v), after "within a prison;" insert "or".

(5) After paragraph (2)(d)(v), insert-

"(vi)a review of an inmate's classification pursuant to rule 4 (classification of inmates)(3) of the Young Offender Institution Rules 2000 as a Category A Inmate or Restricted Status Inmate;".

(6) After paragraph (3)(za), insert-

"(zaa)"Category A Inmate" means an inmate whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public, the police or national security, and for whom the aim is to make escape impossible;".

(7) After paragraph (3)(a), insert-

"(aza)"inmate" means a person who is required to be detained in a young offender institution;

(azb)"Restricted Status Inmate" means an inmate whose escape would present a serious risk to the public;

(azc)"Restricted Status Prisoner" means a prisoner whose escape would present a serious risk to the public;".

Amendments to the Criminal Legal Aid (Financial Resources) Regulations 2013

3.-(1) Regulation 7 (advocacy assistance for individuals in prison)(4) of the Criminal Legal Aid (Financial Resources) Regulations 2013 is amended as follows.

(2) At the end of paragraph (1)(b), omit "or".

(3) In paragraph (1)(c), after "Category A Prisoner" insert "or as a Restricted Status Prisoner; or".

(4) After paragraph (1)(c), insert

"(d)a review of an inmate's classification pursuant to rule 4 (classification of inmates) of the Young Offender Institution Rules 2000 as a Category A Inmate, or Restricted Status Inmate.".

(5) For paragraph (3), substitute-

"(3) In this regulation-

"Category A Inmate" means an inmate whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public, the police or national security, and for whom the aim is to make escape impossible,

"Category A Prisoner" means a prisoner whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public, the police or national security, and for whom the aim is to make escape impossible,

"inmate" means a person who is required to be detained in a young offender institution,

"Restricted Status Inmate" means an inmate whose escape would present a serious risk to the public, and

"Restricted Status Prisoner" means a prisoner whose escape would present a serious risk to the public.".

Transitional provision

4.  The amendments made by these Regulations do not apply to matters in which a determination under section 15 (advice and assistance for criminal proceedings) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 is made before 12th June 2018.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Regulations)

These Regulations amend the Criminal Legal Aid (General) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/9) (the "General Regulations") and the Criminal Legal Aid (Financial Resources) Regulations 2013 (S.I. 2013/471) (the "Financial Resources Regulations").

The amendments made by these Regulations expand the scope of criminal legal aid to include advice and assistance regarding reviews of an individual's classification as a Restricted Status Inmate or Restricted Status Prisoner. A "Restricted Status Inmate" is a person who is required to be detained in a young offender institution and whose escape would present a serious risk to the public and a "Restricted Status Prisoner" is a prisoner whose escape would present a serious risk to the public. They also expand the scope of criminal legal aid to include advice and assistance for reviews of an inmate's classification as a Category A Inmate (a "Category A Inmate" meaning an inmate of a young offender institution whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public, the police or national security, and for whom the aim is to make escape impossible).

Regulation 2 amends regulation 12 of the General Regulations. Regulation 12(2) of the General Regulations sets out the prescribed conditions that must be met before advice and assistance may be made available to an individual under section 15 (advice and assistance for criminal proceedings) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (c.10) ("the Act"). Regulation 2 expands the prescribed conditions to include reviews of an individual's classification as a Restricted Status Inmate, a Restricted Status Prisoner or a Category A Inmate.

Regulation 3 amends the Financial Resources Regulations. Regulation 7(1) of the Financial Resources Regulations sets out the categories of work for which the Director of Legal Aid Casework must make a determination that an individual's financial resources are such that the individual is eligible for advocacy assistance under section 15(2)(c) of the Act (provided that certain additional criteria are met). Regulation 3 amends regulation 7(1) to include reviews of an individual's classification as a Restricted Status Inmate, a Restricted Status Prisoner or a Category A Inmate.

Regulation 4 provides that the amendments made by these Regulations do not apply to matters in which a determination under section 15 (advice and assistance for criminal proceedings) of the Act is made before the Regulations come into force.

An impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector is available from the Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ and is published with an Explanatory Memorandum alongside the instrument on https://legislation.gov.uk.