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<p>The safety of legal aid practitioners is of critical importance and the Government
has taken steps to ensure their safety, while also ensuring that individuals can still
receive crucial legal advice.</p><p>Guidance has been issued that all Mental Health
Tribunals should be conducted remotely. Where this is not possible, secure mental
health inpatient settings tend to be configured in such a way that isolation of patients
is straightforward. NHS England and Improvement have taken steps to ensure rigorous
infection control procedures and have restricted all non-essential visits, while still
permitting essential legal visits. These measures minimise the risk of infection spreading
within inpatient settings and so protects attending legal aid practitioners.</p><p>Criminal
legal advice can continue to be delivered over the telephone via the Defence Solicitors
Call Centre. A joint criminal justice interview protocol has been issued stating that
legal advice should take place whenever possible over the telephone or by video link.
Where this is not possible, interviews must be carried out in accordance with Government
advice and the NPCC has issued guidance on the safe operation of custody suites to
support this.</p><p>To further support this, HMCTS have launched a new cloud video
platform to expand remote hearing capacity and enable all parties in a criminal hearing
to take part remotely.</p><p>We have ensured that mental health and crime providers
will be remunerated for remote advice in the same manner as for in-person hearings.</p>
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