Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill: business and regulatory impact assessment
Estimates the costs, benefits and risks of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill. It also considers how the Bill adheres to the five principles of better regulation: transparency, accountability, proportionality, consistency and targeted where appropriate.
14. Legal Aid Impact Test
The proposed changes to the legislation are not expected to have a significant effect on the number of people applying for legal aid in relation to prosecutions of the new offences. It is considered reasonable that the same proportion of individuals will need to apply for legal aid in any case.
Potential costs relating to the Scottish Legal Aid Board ("SLAB") are outlined for scenarios of increased numbers of prosecutions in Table 4 below. Further details of these costs are outlined in the financial memorandum.
Based on the current level of prosecutions relating to wildlife offences, it is assumed that annually, there will be 14.2 cases submitted to the courts in relation to offences under the Bill subject to summary procedure, and 0.1 cases subject to solemn procedure. The average cases costs are estimated to be £604 for summary proceedings and £1,622 for solemn proceedings.
| Procedure | number of people prosecuted | cost of scenario | resulting additional costs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| current costs to SLAB | Summary | 14.2 | £8,577 | £0 |
| Solemn | 0.1 | £162 | ||
| 10% increase in prosecutions | Summary | 15.62 | £9,434 | £874 |
| Solemn | 0.11 | £178 | ||
| 50 % increase in prosecutions | Summary | 21.3 | £12,865 | £4,370 |
| Solemn | 0.15 | £243 | ||
| 100% increase in prosecutions | Summary | 28.4 | £17,154 | £8,739 |
| Solemn | 0.2 | £324 | ||
| 200% increase in prosecutions | Summary | 42.6 | £25,730 | £17,478 |
| Solemn | 0.3 | £487 |
Contact
Email: philippa.james@gov.scot
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