R (on the application of Ben Hoare Bell Solicitors and others) v Lord Chancellor [2015] EWHC 523 (Admin), [2015] All ER (D) 19 (Mar)
The claimants challenged reg 5A(1) of the Civil Legal Aid (Remuneration) Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/422), which introduced a “no permission, no fee” arrangement for legally aided applications for judicial review and provided no entitlement to payment where permission had neither been granted nor refused. The Divisional Court, in allowing the application, held that the scope of reg 5A extended beyond the circumstances which could be seen as rationally connected to the stated purpose given for its introduction. To that extent it was inconsistent with the purposes of the scheme in the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012.
