The Criminal Defence Service (Information Requests) Regulations 2009
Under Schedule 3 to the Access to Justice Act 1999 the authority responsible for granting rights to publicly funded representation for criminal cases in magistrates’ courts may make information requests to the Commissioners for Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Secretary of State for information about an individual who has applied for representation, to facilitate the making of decisions about financial eligibility. These Regulations provide that information requests to the Commissioners may include requests for information about the individual’s income, capital gains and specified benefits, whether the individual is a partner in a business or a director of a company and whether the individual is living with someone as a couple. They also provide that an information request to the Secretary of State (in practice, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) may ask about the individual’s benefit status for the previous two years and whether the individual is living with someone as a couple.