Mobile phone and computer evidence means that the system of paying advocates by the volume of pages of prosecution evidence is out of date, ministers have said.
As a measure of the complexity of a trial, the system is no longer a useful indicator of work done “because digital developments in recent years can produce large volumes of data, such as computer and mobile phone hard drives that are fundamentally different from traditional evidence”, the ministers add.
They propose to reform the system as part of a wide-ranging review being launched into the future of criminal legal aid, which is to report by the end of summer next year. This, they say, should also look at restoring the system of paying advocates for looking at