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Means testing in the Magistrates' Courts - Post implementation review
Means Testing in the Magistrates' Courts - Post Implementation Review
Means testing in the Magistrates' Courts was introduced on time and on budget and remains on course to deliver its projected annual savings of £35 million, a post implementation review has found. The new scheme was introduced on 2 October 2006 in all magistrates' courts to ensure that all those who can pay for their criminal defence are now doing so.
The new means testing scheme is a core element of the Government's wider legal aid reform package which will help achieve more effective control over criminal legal aid expenditure. This will mean that the Government can continue to re-balance legal aid resources towards civil and family advice and assistance.
The review of the first six months of the scheme, including its wider impact on the criminal justice system, assesses whether the anticipated benefits from means testing are being delivered. It acknowledges that the new scheme has presented some operational challenges and sets out measures that are being put in place to tackle these issues effectively and so drive up efficiency across the criminal justice system.
One of the review's most significant recommendations is to extend the 'passporting' provisions for youths so that all defendants appearing before the youth court and all under 18-year-olds appearing before the magistrates' court are exempt from the means test. This change will be implemented on 1 November 2007. All cases will still need to satisfy the Interests of Justice test.
Welcoming the review, Justice Minister Lord Hunt said:
"The aim of means testing is to ensure that those who can pay for their criminal defence do so, and forms part of the wider legal aid objective of providing fair justice at a fair price.
"This is essential if the system is to remain sustainable: legal aid spending has risen from £1.5 billion in 1997/98 to over £2 billion in 2005/06, with a 35% rise in real terms in criminal legal aid.
"The savings generated by the means test will help control criminal legal aid expenditure and enable the targeting of resources where they are most needed, on civil and family advice and assistance. Between 2003/04 and 2006/07 the number of civil and family acts of assistance, excluding asylum, has risen from 600,000 to 800,000. The criminal legal aid reform package will help to support this trend."
Notes to editors
1. The Post Implementation Review (PIR) of criminal legal aid means testing is available at: http://www.legalservices.gov.uk/docs/cds_main/PIR_021007.pdf
2. Prior to 2 October 2006, the Legal Services Commission (LSC) provided defendants with free legal representation if they passed the 'Interests of Justice' test. Following implementation of the Criminal Defence Service (CDS) Act 2006, defendants in the magistrates' courts applying for criminal legal aid have also had to pass a means test. The CDS Act also transferred responsibility for the grant of criminal legal aid from Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) to the LSC.
3. The PIR, which is owned jointly by Ministry of Justice (MoJ), Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) and the Legal Services Commission (LSC), was conducted in May and June 2007.
4. The PIR focused on the operational impact of the new scheme, including its wider impact on the criminal justice system, and assessed whether the anticipated benefits are being delivered. The review team obtained feedback from key stakeholders and carried out a range of sample based analysis in order to test key PIR deliverables.
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