Court Appearances and Hearings

The idea of appearing at court can be extremely daunting, especially if you have never seen the inside of a courtroom other than on television or as a visitor. At BSB Solicitors we are all specialist criminal defence lawyers who are trained and skilled at representing you in court. Depending upon the nature of the case, our recommendation and of course your own preference you will be represented by one of our lawyers or an independent barrister.

Your case will always start in The magistrates’ court, however, depending on the seriousness and complexity of the matter and whether you plead guilty or not guilty, your case will either remain in The magistrate’s court or be sent to The Crown Court. Our job is to ensure that you understand the process and to make sure you are not merely watching lawyers talk about you as if you are not there.

Funding your case

We represent clients both under legal aid and privately paying. in the magistrates’ court you may be granted legal aid if you pass two tests:

1. Is it in the interests of justice to grant public funding for this case.
2. Does the applicant pass the means test.

If you do not pass the means test ( have too high income) in the Magistrates Court you will not be granted legal aid. However in the Crown Court the threshold is higher and as long as you do not have an annual disposable income of £37,000, you will be granted legal aid, however, you may be asked to pay a contribution which could be as high as £900 per month for a period of up to 6 months.

We represent many fee-paying clients, we will happily discuss fees with you, as it is always impossible to estimate the likely cost of cases sufficiently to post them on online.

If you wish to fund your representation privately and we are successful in defending your case, you will recover some costs, but the Government will not reimburse the whole amount. This we, accept is grossly unfair, especially when you have taken personal financial risks to fund your defence and clear your name. If you do choose to pay for private representation we would advise you to apply for legal aid as otherwise, you will not receive any funds in the event of an acquittal.

For more information or legal representation, please do not hesitate to contact us.