Background Part 2: Courts and Justice Section 46: Restraint orders and legal aid, and Section 47: Restraint orders and legal aid: supplementary
60.Section 41 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (“POCA”) prohibits the use of restrained assets to pay for legal expenses related to the offences upon which the restraint order is predicated, which includes making a contribution towards the cost of legal aid. A relevant legal aid payment is that which a person subject to the restraint order is obliged to make under regulations made under sections 23 or 24 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 in respect of legal aid provided in connection with the offences underlying the restraint order. Sections 46 and 47 of the Act amend section 41 of the POCA so that a restraint order must be made subject to an exception enabling relevant legal aid payments.