ABSTRACT
Regulation 44 of the 1989 General Regulations provides that the legal aid certificate for proceedings in front of the magistrates’ court should be limited to representation by a solicitor, unless the case involves an indictable offence and it is an unusually grave or difficult case. It is of course open to the solicitor to instruct counsel, but the legal aid fund will only pay on the basis that representation was provided by a solicitor.
