§ Mr. John MarshallTo ask the parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department (1) what is the amount of legal aid awarded to Kasim Mohamed Bacchus; and if he will make a statement about this award of legal aid; [26982]
(2) what plans he has to investigate the award of legal aid to Kasim Mohamed Bacchus. [26931]
Mr. John M. TaylorA legal aid certificate was issued in favour of Mr. Bacchus on 13 April 1995 to cover contested matrimonial proceedings. The granting of legal aid in this case is now under investigation by the Legal Aid Board. No payments have been made from the legal aid fund to date.
If it is found that an assisted person has failed to disclose his true financial position, the legal aid certificate may be revoked. In those circumstances, the Legal Aid Board would be entitled to recover its costs in full. With regard to this particular case, I have received a full report from the chief executive of the Legal Aid Board. Because of the confidentiality provisions of the Legal Aid Act 441W 1988, I cannot disclose further details of the information. I am, however, satisfied that the matters which were of concern to the trial judge have been fully investigated and that appropriate action will be taken.
§ Mr. CousinsTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Lord Chancellor's Department what were the costs of legal aid paid to each defendant in the case of the Crownv. Abraham, Allen and Henderson; and how much was contributed by or recovered from each defendant. [27173]
Mr. John M. TaylorDetails of the legal aid payments made to lawyers acting on behalf of the three defendants, and the amounts recovered from each defendant, are as follows:
Defendant Legal aid costs excluding VAT £ Amount recovered £ Abraham 124,541 546 Allen 122,112 52 Henderson 232,375 5,000