We’re making new guidance available to help you when submitting work for self-employed applicants with complex means.
Why is this needed?
The ‘Self Employed Guidance’ document explains the evidence required to assess an applicant’s income accurately.
It should be used as a supplement to the ‘Criminal Legal Aid Manual’.
The idea is to work with you to improve the quality of applications and help reduce the number of rejected applications.
It should also speed up court proceedings by ensuring representation orders are granted earlier.
This will allow us to build on successes already achieved through electronic working.
Wider benefits
We need to ensure accurate income assessments for applicants so that we:
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only grant funding to eligible defendants
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make sure the right people are asked to contribute towards their Crown Court costs
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prevent applicants being incorrectly denied access to legal aid or asked to contribute
Further information
Criminal legal aid: means testing – download ‘Self Employed Guidance’ document under section headed ‘complex means’