Clause 2 - Rights to representation: financial eligibility
Criminal Defence Service Bill [Lords]
11:30 am
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Lewisham East, Labour)
Not at this point.
El-Hadji Diouf was on loan from Liverpool to Bolton when he spat in the face of his opponent, Arjan de Zeeuw. I can pronounce those names more easily that I can the constituency of the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome, but I am getting there. El-Hadji Diouf was fined two weeks' wages—a total of £80,000, as he was paid £40,000 a week—yet he was eligible for legal aid. That upset a great many people who would not be eligible for legal aid in civil cases. That example illustrates why the Bill is so timely.
Under clause 2, means information will be collected from defendants at the earliest opportunity after they enter the criminal justice system on a consolidated application form covering both the early advice and assistance scheme and the granting of representation. In response to comments made on Second Reading, I want to make it clear that the information should be collected when the defendant is charged, as that is the most appropriate time to collect it.
A number of limited eligibility allowances will be introduced to ensure that the scheme is fair and sensitive to individual circumstances and reflects capacity to pay. Defendants will be able to apply for legal aid under an extended advice and assistance scheme up to and including the first hearing, when a means-tested representation order comes into force. Eligibility for the extended advice and assistance scheme will be determined on merit alone, and applicants will not be tested for means at that point.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 2, as amended, ordered to stand part of the Bill.