legal services commission, england and wales Citation and commencement 1 These Regulations may be cited as the Criminal Defence Service (Representation Orders and Consequential Amendments) Regulations 2006 and come into force on 2nd October 2006. Interpretation 2 In these Regulations— “ the Act ” means the Access to Justice Act 1999; “the Commission” means the Legal Services Commission established under section 1 of the Act; “relevant proceedings” means criminal proceedings which— are mentioned in section 12(2)(a) to (f) of the Act; and are in a magistrates’ court; “representation authority” means the Commission or a court officer or other person to whom the Commission, in accordance with section 3(4) of the Act, has delegated its functions under paragraph 2A of Schedule 3 to the Act; “representation order” means a document granting a right to representation under section 14 of the Act. Proceedings in which representation order may be granted 3 The Commission may, at any stage of the proceedings, grant to an individual a representation order in respect of relevant proceedings. Extension of representation order 4 A representation order granted to an individual extends to— a the Crown Court, if the proceedings continue there; and b any proceedings incidental to the proceedings, but does not extend to an appeal. Withdrawal of representation order 5 1 Where any charge or proceedings against the individual are varied, the representation authority must— a consider whether the interests of justice require that he be represented in respect of the varied charge or proceedings; and b withdraw the representation order if the interests of justice do not so require. 2 The representation authority must consider whether to withdraw the representation order in any of the following circumstances— a where the individual declines to accept the order in the terms on which it is granted; b otherwise at the request of the individual; or c where the representative named in the representation order declines to continue to represent the individual. Transitional provisions 6 An application for a representation order which is received before 2nd October 2006 is to be dealt with as if these Regulations had not been made. Consequential amendments 7 In section 8A(5) of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 (power to make rulings at pre-trial hearing)— a in the opening words, omit “, the court must”; b in paragraph (a), at the beginning insert “the court must”; and c in paragraph (b), after “does,” insert “the Legal Services Commission must”. 8 1 Section 50 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (early administrative hearings) is amended as follows. 2 For subsection (2) substitute— 2 At a hearing conducted by a single justice under this section the accused shall be asked whether he wishes to be granted a right to representation funded by the Legal Services Commission as part of the Criminal Defence Service. 2A Where the accused wishes to be granted such a right, the Legal Services Commission shall decide whether or not to grant him that right. 3 After subsection (4) insert— 4A A hearing conducted by a single justice under this section may be— a adjourned to enable the decision mentioned in subsection (2A) above to be taken, and b subsequently resumed by a single justice. 9 In the Access to Justice Act 1999, in Schedule 4 (amendments consequential on Part 1), paragraph 54 is repealed. 10 In the Schedule to the Justices’ Clerks Rules 2005 , omit paragraph 13. Vera Baird Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Department for Constitutional Affairs Date 11 September 2006