EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
These Regulations amend the Criminal Defence Service (General) (No 2) Regulations 2001 (S.I. 2001/1437) in consequence of the transfer of responsibility for granting rights to representation in criminal proceedings in magistrates’ courts from the court to the Legal Services Commission (regulations 4 to 7). They also remove the requirement that applications for representation orders be made on a prescribed form (regulations 4 and 10) and add a provision that where a representation order is withdrawn and a new order granted, the same representative should usually be appointed (regulation 8). Regulations 2 to 4 and 7 to 9 make other minor amendments to the 2001 Regulations. The Regulations take effect on 2nd October 2006, when the relevant amendments to the Access to Justice Act 1999 made by the Criminal Defence Service Act 2006 come into force.
A regulatory impact assessment has been prepared for instruments relating to the Criminal Defence Service Act, which is available from Criminal Legal Aid Strategy Division, Department for Constitutional Affairs, Selborne House, 54 Victoria Street, London SW1E 6QW and can also be found at http://www.dca.gov.uk/risk/crime-defence-act-ria.pdf.