The Criminal Legal Aid (General) (Amendment) Regulations 2026, issued as S.I. 2026/955, make a targeted change to criminal legal aid in England and Wales. Signed on behalf of the Lord Chancellor by Sarah Sackman, Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice, on 1 September 2026 and laid before Parliament on 2 September 2026, the instrument amends regulation 9 of the Criminal Legal Aid (General) Regulations 2013. That change is technical in form but important in effect. Regulation 9 is the provision that identifies which proceedings are treated as criminal proceedings for the purposes of section 14(h) of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012. In practical terms, the amendment updates the legal aid rules so that they match newer order-making powers created by later Acts of Parliament.
According to the explanatory note published with the instrument, the first substantive addition covers proceedings under sections 51, 54, 57 and 58 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 in relation to child criminal exploitation prevention orders. Once the relevant commencement condition is met, those proceedings will be expressly within the prescribed scope of criminal legal aid. The same note says the regulations also add proceedings under sections 215, 224, 225 and 226 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 in relation to youth diversion orders. This is a standard but necessary step in secondary legislation: when Parliament creates new categories of proceedings in primary legislation, the legal aid framework often requires a separate amendment so that scope is stated clearly.
The instrument also makes two shorter textual inserts to existing entries in regulation 9. One amendment adds a reference to section 19A of the Serious Crime Act 2007. The explanatory note states that this brings into scope serious crime prevention orders made by the Crown Court where a person has been acquitted of an offence, or where the court allows that person's appeal against conviction. A further amendment adds section 2A to the reference to the Stalking Protection Act 2019. Section 2A is itself inserted by section 128(5) of the Crime and Policing Act 2026. The stated effect is to bring within scope stalking protection order proceedings relating to a person acquitted of a stalking offence, or a person whose conviction for such an offence is overturned on appeal.
The commencement provisions require careful reading. Regulation 1 itself and the amendment linked to section 19A of the Serious Crime Act 2007 come into force on 1 October 2026. The child criminal exploitation prevention order amendment also takes effect on 1 October 2026, unless the relevant Crime and Policing Act 2026 provisions start later, in which case the legal aid change begins on that later date. The same approach is used for youth diversion orders and the stalking-related amendment. The youth diversion provisions only enter scope when the first of sections 215, 224, 225 or 226 of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 is in force, if that is later than 1 October 2026. The section 2A stalking change is similarly tied to the commencement of section 128(5) of the 2026 Act where that date falls later.
For legal aid providers, court staff and representatives, the practical consequence is that scope will depend on the interaction between this instrument and the commencement status of the linked provisions in the Crime and Policing Act 2026. A case will not fall within one of the new categories simply because the amending regulations have been made; the underlying statutory trigger must also have taken effect where the instrument says so. For individuals involved in these proceedings, the amendment reduces the risk of a gap between new order-making powers and the legal aid rules that sit alongside them. It does not create the underlying orders, nor does it alter the broader structure of the criminal legal aid scheme. Its function is narrower: it ensures that specified proceedings are expressly treated as criminal proceedings for scope purposes.
The explanatory note says no full impact assessment has been produced because no significant impact on the private, voluntary or public sector is foreseen. That indicates the Ministry of Justice views the measure as an alignment exercise rather than a wider change in legal aid policy. Even so, the operational effect is clear. From 1 October 2026, and in some cases from later commencement dates, the legal aid position in England and Wales will better reflect the current statute book on child criminal exploitation prevention orders, youth diversion orders, serious crime prevention orders after acquittal, and stalking protection orders after acquittal or successful appeal. For practitioners, the key issue is commencement tracking. For those affected by the relevant proceedings, the immediate question is whether the case is now expressly within scope.