Well off criminals in the UK may have to pay for their public defence

07/11/2008

Faced with a staggering legal aid bill of more than two billion pounds, and 117,000 legally aided defendants in Crown Court each year,��the Ministry of Justice in the UK has released�two consultation papers�exploring ways of�"recouping costs from comfortably off, convicted defendants who can afford to pay towards their defence".

According to the Crown Court Means Testing�poposal, "everyone who is tried at a Crown Court will be offered legal aid, but those who fail the new means assessment and are found guilty will have to reimburse the taxpayer for the cost of their defence. Safeguards will remain in place so those defendants on benefits or low incomes, who make up a large proportion of those who appear before the Crown Court, will continue to receive free legal aid".

In the other consultation paper published today, the Ministry of Justice is consulting on possible reforms to the system of payment of acquitted defendants' legal costs.

7 November 2008