(This note is not part of the Rules)
These Rules amend the Legal Aid for Crown Court Proceedings (Costs) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2005.
They provide for applications for certification as a very high cost case to be made by a solicitor or counsel on behalf of himself, or on behalf of himself and another representative in the case.
They also provide that, where the Northern Ireland Legal Services Commission certifies a case as a very high cost case, the Commission shall require the representative or representatives concerned to maintain contemporaneous records of the hours of preparatory work they do on the case.
The Rules also introduce new maximum rates of payment for very high cost cases. Furthermore, they introduce a new arrangement for the review by the taxing master of his initial determination of the costs payable to a representative in a very high cost case, and for an appeal to the High Court against the decision of the master on a review.