Law Weblog

Means testing for defendants in The Crown Court

Thursday 14 January 2010 at 7:38 am | In News | Post Comment People acquitted of crimes will not be able to claim back all the legal costs of their defence at five crown courts in England and Wales, starting this week.

Means testing in the courts could affect one in four defendants acquitted of serious criminal cases. The Law Society holds the view is that the new regulations are unlawful and successful defendants should be entitled to reasonable compensation for costs they have incurred; they are to challenge the government.

There is now a cap on the amount acquitted defendants can claim back. Under the scheme, defendants who pay for private representation can only be reimbursed at legal aid rates, even though private lawyers often charge more.

There is no cap on the amount prosecutors can claim if defendants are convicted. And prosecutors’ costs can work out at much more than legal aid rates.

Critics hope that the judicial review claim, which has been filed at the high court in London, will lead to the measures being scrapped.

The reforms were brought in following high profile cases of very wealthy defendants quite capable of funding their defence employing very expensive legal teams.