EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Rules)
These Rules are the outworking of the second formal review of the Magistrates’ Courts and County Courts Appeals (Criminal Legal Aid) (Costs) Rules (Northern Ireland) 2009 (S.R. 2009 No. 313) which prescribe the remuneration for solicitors and counsel assigned under Articles 28, 28A or 30 of the Legal Aid, Advice and Assistance (Northern Ireland) Order 1981 (1981 No. 228 (N.I. 8)).
The Rules introduce a new date for the commencement of the next formal review of the Rules. They also increase the rate of remuneration for Counsel in respect of sentence only appeals in the County Court. An additional fee is introduced for the hearings of a special measures application for witnesses or the accused to be examined through a Registered Intermediary. Finally, the Rules provide for increased remuneration for cases which include a Newton Hearing. Previously such cases were remunerated by way of fifty per cent uplift on the relevant Guilty Plea Fee payable. The uplift has been increased to seventy five per cent of the relevant Guilty Plea Fee.