Q. How can I afford a lawyer to act for me if I am accused of a crime?
A. Although Governments of all political complexions have been trying to cut back on the legal aid bill for many years now, there is still a comprehensive legal aid system in place in England and Wales for anyone suspected of or charged with a criminal offence.
Anyone arrested and taken to a police station for questioning will usually have the right to free legal representation at any time of day or night, regardless of their level of income.
If charged with an offence carrying imprisonment or any other serious offence they will probably be entitled to a representation order (previously called legal aid) but the court must also assess their income and outgoings and may order a contribution to be paid. Higher earners may not qualify at all.
Not all firms deal with criminal work, but those that do (such as Sykes Lee & Brydson) are subject to monitoring and approval by the Legal Services Commission. We can advise whether legal aid may be available.
Q. What right do the police have to search someone’s house?
A. The police have wide powers to enter property for the purposes of making an arrest, to deal with or prevent a breach of the peace or to seek evidence in connection with a wide range of offences. These powers also apply in cases where there is a need to save life or limb or to prevent serious damage to property.
If seeking to make an arrest the police are entitled to enter if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that the person whom they seek is on the premises. In those circumstances the police officer must be in uniform. The officer is also entitled to use reasonable force if access has been requested and denied.
The police may also enter premises where they are investigating allegations of drug trafficking or where a person has been arrested and it is suspected that there may be evidence on premises occupied or controlled by them which relate either to the offence which they have been arrested or to another arrestable offence which may be connected with or similar to it.
Q. What are the rules about Disqualification from Driving?
A. In practice there are three main ways in which a driver convicted of a motoring offence may lose their licence.
- Certain offences are considered so serious that they carry automatic disqualification – in addition to any other penalty the court may impose. Drink driving is the best example, where the minimum ban will be 12 months, or more if the reading is a high one (or three years where there is a similar previous conviction within the last 10 years).
- The court may also disqualify for any endorsable offence if they consider the circumstances make the offence too serious to be dealt with by just a fine and penalty points. The commonest example is that of excessive speeding: any driver convicted of doing over 100mph in a 70 limit is likely to be banned.
- Under the totting-up rules a driver can be disqualified if they accumulate 12 penalty points within a three year period. It is the date of the offences and NOT the date of the hearings which is relevant. The court must disqualify for at least 6 months. To avoid being banned for totting up you will have to convince the court that a disqualification would cause exceptional hardship.
- Newly qualified drivers will also lose their licence if they accumulate 6 or more points within two years of qualifying. The licence will be revoked, not by the court, but by the DVLA. It is not a disqualification – a new licence may be applied for immediately. But it will be a provisional licence and the test must be retaken.
