Co-accused in criminal law matters

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    Payment rules - summary matters

    Effective from 16 December 2013, the payment rules associated with co-accused are no longer applied to summary matters. If a practitioner represents more than one co-accused in a summary matter they are entitled to claim the fixed fee for each client.

    Payment rules - non-summary matters

    The payment rules listed below are only in effect for any grants of aid issued prior to 4 December 2017. Any grants of aid issued after 4 December 2017 are subject to the new conflict of interest policy - grants of aid for criminal law co-accused.

    Where a firm or counsel acts for more than one accused at committal or in the higher courts:

    • one full preparation fee is paid plus 50% of the preparation fee for each additional co-accused
    • one full court time fee is paid plus 50% of the court time fee for each additional co-accused
    • a full group conference fee is payable for each co-accused
    • a full negotiation fee is payable for each co-accused
    • Only one mention fee is payable regardless of the number of co-accused.

    Audit requirements

    Practitioners are required to inform the assessing officer that they are acting for more than one accused when aid is sought.

    Last updated 4 December 2017

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