Crime news: matching rep order offence dates against HMCTS data
Offence dates on representation orders issued by the LAA to mirror data held by HMCTS.
Representation orders generated by the LAA will in future always match the dates on the HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) case management system.
Why are you doing this?
We find that in a small number of cases there are discrepancies in the dates recorded by courts, police and applicants.
The simplest solution is to adopt the dates used on the HMCTS Libra case management system across all our data systems.
What does this mean for the LAA?
When noting discrepancies in the past between the offence date on LIBRA and the date on the application form we have issued a manual representation order.
A paper copy of this representation order has been sent to solicitors with the date on the application form. This will no longer happen.
What is the benefit of this?
Providers and the LAA can avoid wasting time on processing redundant paperwork.
This is because paper copies of representation orders are no longer needed for billing purposes.
So, making this change will have no impact on the submission of bills for work in either magistrates’ courts or the Crown Court.
How will you keep accurate records of offence dates?
Our systems will allow us to identify accurate offence dates if this is necessary. This is purely a process change which will allow us to ensure that LAA and HMCTS systems work together as seamlessly as possible.