The LAA introduced “Apply for criminal legal aid” service for criminal applications service July 2024, replacing CRM14 and 15 eForms with a user-centred digital service.
This table should be consulted prior to contacting the Customer Service Team with queries.
| Questions | Response |
| Changes to legacy services | CRM4 – applications for prior authorities CRM5 – extension of upper limit CRM7 – non-standard magistrates fees CRM14 and CRM15 – Criminal Legal Aid Applications Replacement services can be accessed via the Legal Aid portal. POA – these will now be accepted via email: LAA will no longer accept POA submitted via e-Forms – GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) |
| Can I submit PSE, when the application was submitted in eForms? | Post Submission Evidence applications that were originally submitted in eForms. These should be submitted via email to one of the following email addresses: BirminghamCAT@justice.gov.uk, NottinghamCAT@justice.gov.uk or LiverpoolCAT@justice.gov.uk Self-employed PSE can be sent to nationalcrimeteam@justice.gov.uk Please ensure you are keeping a record of MAAT/URN references so that these can be linked to your original application. |
| How do I submit Change in Financial Circumstances (CIFC)/Appeal to the Crown Court when the original application was on eForms? | CIFC’s and Appeal to Crown Court should be submitted in the Apply for criminal legal aid service, regardless of whether the original application was submitted on eForms. |
| My firm has been onboarded to the new service, but one member of staff cannot access it. | To access the Apply for criminal legal aid service, users will need the eForms Author role on their user account in CWA. Any current eForms user in a firm who does not have the eForms Author user role will need to be given this role to access the new service. If new users are added to the firm in CWA and need to use the Apply for criminal legal aid service, they will need to be given the eForms Author role. Please see page 17 of the CWA user guide for further information. |
| How can I find data on applications submitted via eForms? | Applications will not transfer over to the Crime Apply service. Direct access to historic eForms data will not be available for providers from 25 October 2024. Due to the security risk in accessing the migrated data, from 25 October 2024, access to historical data will require a request to the LAA Customer Service Team. |
| If I have a returned or incomplete date stamped eForm and the service has closed, how do I retain the date stamp when making a new application? | You will no longer be able to submit pending eForm applications. You can request historic eForms via an e-mail to online-support@justice.gov.uk. The team aim to respond to all requests within 5 working days. |
| What if something is not working properly? | Apply for Criminal Legal Aid applications technical or onboarding support: Online chat – Ministry of Justice: Contact Us Phone – 0300 200 2020 – option 3 Email – Online-Support@justice.gov.uk Apply for Criminal Legal Aid applications operational support: Online chat – Ministry of Justice: Contact Us Phone – 0300 200 2020 – option 2 Email – BirminghamCAT@justice.gov.uk, LiverpoolCAT@justice.gov.uk or NottinghamCAT@justice.gov.uk |
| What training will be given and when will this be available? | For a step by step guide please visit the Legal Aid Learning Website – Applying for Criminal Legal Aid Introduction to the Apply for Criminal legal aid service – Legal Aid Learning |
| What is the turnaround time for applications? | The Key Performance Indicator (KPI) for processing applications will remain the same (90% within 2 working days). |
| Using the service | |
| How do I sign into the Apply for Criminal Legal Aid system? | Sign in will be via the LAA Portal, using your existing sign in details. |
| I cannot find the correct offence in the service. | It is important that when you come to the section where you input the offence name, you use the drop-down menu. When you start typing the offence name suitable options will appear in a drop-down menu. If the offence does not appear on the list, you can manually add an offence. |
| I am having to type the same offence numerous times for multiple counts. | The drop-down list can be used for offences. If your client has been charged with multiple counts of the same charge, the charge only needs to be added once and the dates of the offences can be completed in addition. |
| Will there be an offline form that can be uploaded to the application when online? | The offline form feature will not be available in the Apply for criminal legal aid service. |
| How will I receive a date stamp? | The existing date stamp rules will apply. You will receive a date stamp automatically where it is applicable via the Apply for criminal legal aid service. Any magistrates’ court representation order granted will be backdated to the original date stamp even if the application is later returned for amendment. This also applies to representation orders for Committals for Sentence and Appeals to Crown Court. Representation Orders for Crown Court trials cannot be backdated. |
| Why are some questions different to CRM14 and 15 eForms? | The service uses the answers you provide to determine what information or evidence is requested during the application process. This means you are only asked questions relevant to the type of application you are submitting. You may be asked less questions or they may appear in a different order. This is intentional and the information collected will be sufficient to make the same assessment the LAA makes on your CRM14 and CRM15 eForms submissions. |
| How will I receive my representation order? | The outcome of your application will be shown on the outcome result on your crime apply application and you will also receive a separate email with the representation or refusal order. You will receive the representation order via email. At present, the Apply for criminal legal aid service does not have the option to add an additional email address for your representation order to be sent to. As this is an iterative service, if you wish to add an additional email address, use the free text box on the ‘Do you need to add any more information to this application?’ page to confirm the email address to send correspondence to (including the legal aid decision). If no email address is supplied, we will automatically send correspondence to the user account email on record in CWA for the specific user submitting the application. We encourage you to keep your CWA details updated, with your CWA Firm Sysadmin role amending user email accounts. Guidance can be found here: CWA Administration Guide Version 6 Please ensure your email settings are not set to identify ‘@justice.gov.uk’ emails as spam. If you do not receive your representation order or a refusal email within the expected timeframe, please contact our Customer Service Team to query the status of your application |
| I got an error message whilst submitting an application, how do I know if the application was submitted? | In the unlikely event that an error message occurs during final submission, all information input on the application will be saved. To determine if the application has been submitted, navigate to the submitted applications tab from your dashboard. If the application is seen here, it has been submitted. |
| I cannot locate an application that I submitted. | Please ensure that you are looking under the correct office account number on the service. If you have checked the office account number and still cannot locate the submitted application, then please contact our technical support team at: Online chat – Ministry of Justice: Contact Us Phone – 0300 200 2020 – option 3 Email – Online-Support@justice.gov.uk |
| Can I search for applications in the service? | A search functionality was released in November 2024, to allow providers to search submitted and returned applications within Apply for criminal legal aid. Please see the link below for further information. Development of Apply for criminal legal aid service |
| Why do I not get asked for Interest of Justice (IoJ) justification on certain offences? | For applicants who are under 18, and for certain offences where applicants are aged 18 and over, providers will not be required to submit additional IoJ justification. This change is based on evidence which confirms that a decision can be made without this information for certain offences. The offences that do not require IoJ justification are subject to change based on further data analysis or assurance checks. Providers may be asked for justification on any offence, regardless of whether they have been asked to input justification in previous cases of the same type. Providers should document their IoJ justification on their file, regardless of whether this information is requested at the application stage. |
| Why am I being asked for Interest of Justice (IoJ) justification on split cases? | Based on offence, on certain cases, you will not be asked for an IoJ justification. When an application is submitted with one of these offences the form will return a result that no further IoJ justification is needed. However, when an application is received which has split offences, meaning that the offences are being heard under different court case numbers, checks will be made to see if any offences do require further IoJ justification. If they do, the form will be rejected back asking for further IoJ justification for all of the offences. If you are aware that a case is split, we recommend that you submit separate applications for each case to prevent rejection of your application. |
| I have received a ‘403 forbidden error’ message when completing the IoJ decision. | Users are advised to remove special characters e.g. brackets from the text if they have this issue. |
| Why doesn’t the service differentiate between ‘undetermined’ and ‘failed’ on the passported check? | When a passported check is completed, this will bring back either a positive or an undetermined result. An undetermined result could mean that some details are incorrect or that the defendant isn’t on a passported benefit. We are aware of the benefit of being able to distinguish between the two and this will be taken into consideration for future iterations of the service. If the DWP result comes back that you client does not receive a passported benefit and you have checked the information submitted is correct, the applicant will be required to complete further questions, confirming the applicant and partner’s financial situation including any capital and equity. This is known as the Benefit Bypass and will enable NCAT to carry out a means assessment. |
| Can I use the service if I do not hold a criminal contract? | If you are a civil provider who is submitting an application relating to civil contempt cases or for anti-social behaviour breaches, you will need to make the submission via email, attaching a completed CRM14 and CRM15 form to: nationalcrimeteam@justice.gov.uk A link to the form can be located here: CRM14 |
| How can I delete applications? | You can delete applications which appear under the “Returned” tab. Please note: This feature should only be used if you are certain that the application will not be resubmitted and that you do not need any of the data contained within the application. |