News Archive

clair-government-response-consultation Sir Christopher Bellamy’s Legal Aid proposals (Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review) stated clearly that an immediate increase to Criminal Defence Fees of 15% was necessary to stabilise Criminal Defence firms and prevent a...

Criminal Legal Aid – A Sustainable Future? LEGAL AID CONSULTATION SURVIVAL TRAINING Book online here Doors open 1.45pm Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Further details here: LCCSA-CLSA-training-25April2022-A5-flyer-web

https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Guidance-on-CBA-action.pdf https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/criminal-justice/guidance-on-undertaking-advocacy-during-cba-no-returns-action?fbclid=IwAR3cqoUE74Xzc7rJmNWxgVMCSJtYTdm0fjFgGR5WePdU4EVNTo2TbTOSAa0

COVID-19 contingency response updates Our COVID-19 contingency pages on GOV.UK are being updated as indicated below. We would appreciate it if you could communicate this to your members. Process restarts Amendments to end dates for live measures affecting numbered...

Criminal Legal Aid – A Sustainable Future? Doors open 1.45pm Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL For more details click here: LCCSA-CLSA-training-25April2022-A5-flyer-web

Click here to download (pdf) When the government announced that it was going to conduct an Independent Criminal Legal Aid Review there was the traditional, and well-earned scepticism around many in the profession who had experienced so many false dawns over their...

The Law Society Press Release - 29th March 2022 British justice is at risk after UK government assurances that its proposals on criminal legal aid funding matched the findings of an independent review turned out to be spin, the Law Society of England and Wales has...

The Law Society Press Release - British justice is at risk after UK government assurances that its proposals on criminal legal aid funding matched the findings of an independent review turned out to be spin, the Law Society of England and Wales has warned. Sir...

Press release:From: Ministry of Justice Published 15 March 2022

The Sentencing Council will be making changes to a number of sentencing guidelines, following the Council’s first annual consultation on miscellaneous amendments . The changes are designed to bring greater clarity and consistency and reflect developments in...

Criminal legal aid review - proposals for early action (office.com) The closing date is 12th March 2022

Click here to read the article

Read below what he said : Thank you very much for the invitation to be here and it’s a pleasure and an honour to be here alongside some of our distinguished speakers. I have the immense honour of being the chair of the Criminal Law Solicitors’ Association. We...

The Minister with responsibility for criminal legal aid, James Cartlidge MP, will be speaking along with representatives from a range of practitioner groups. Confirmed speakers: - Minister James Cartlidge MP - Stephanie Boyce , President of The Law Society - Mark...

CLSA Press Release CBA ballot We are aware of the CBA ballot having had a number of very constructive meetings with the CBA recently. These will be continuing in the coming weeks. We have much in common, and there is certainly more that unites us than divides us. We...

First and foremost, the CLSA Committee wishes you all, members and non-members alike, solictors, barristers and those working in the Criminal Justice System a Merry Christmas, and in anticipation, a Happy New Year. Those good wishes include good health and so it is...

Transform Justice, is a national charity working for a fair, humane, open and effective justice system. We are working with police forces around the country in order to improve their use of diversions and out of court disposals, with the aim of getting more crime...

New tool to support sentencing in the Crown Court The Sentencing Council is providing a new tool to support the process of sentencing in the Crown Court. SentencingACE allows judges to make a quick, ready-reckoner style check of the sentence they intend to impose. It...

Click here to download a copy Like all of you, members and non-members alike, we have been concerned about the rise in COVID rates beyond an already awful 50,000 cases (of Delta) per week. Much has changed in the last 2 weeks. As Donald Rumsfeld once said : “as we...

CLSA Press Release-Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review-15 Dec 2021 Today the government had published the long-awaited report by Sir Christopher Bellamy into Criminal Legal Aid. The Criminal Law Solicitors Association would like to thank Sir Christopher for his work...

clar-independent-review-report-2021 Criminal Legal Aid Independent Review 2021 Annexes

Letter from Max Hill QC Director of Public Prosecutions to Daniel Bonich Chair of the Criminal Law Solicitors' Association - Click here to read

The Sentencing Council has today published, in accordance with section 120 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, a new definitive guideline to be used by the Crown Court and magistrates’ courts in England and Wales when sentencing importation of firearms offences. The...

The Law Society has launched a short survey to get some information about the capacity of criminal law firms. https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/topics/criminal-justice/have-your-say-criminal-law-firm-capacity-to-manage-court-backlog To inform our conversations with the...

Information for organisations interested in delivering face to face Criminal Legal Aid Services from October 2022.

The Sentencing Council is launching a new strategy today that will shape our work for the next five years. The strategy follows a public consultation we held to mark our 10th anniversary in 2020. Sentencing Council strategic objectives 2021–2026 identifies five...

If you have already obtained your Court ID Card which is due to expire on the 1st December 2021  you can renew it here

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/crime-contract-2022-tender

Book your place here I hereby give notice that the Annual General Meeting of the Criminal Law Solicitors' Association will be held on Friday 12 November at 13:00 via Zoom CLSA Hon. Secretary AGENDA 1. Apologies for Absence 2. Treasurer's Report and approval of Annual...