Guidance

Duty solicitors: rotas, information and guidance

Duty solicitors rotas, lists, standard crime contract 2022 and contact details.

From:
Legal Aid Agency
Published
1 June 2014
Last updated
3 April 2024 — See all updates

Applies to England and Wales

CRM12 Application information

Duty solicitor rotas: 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025

The CRM12 application deadline for adding duty solicitors to the rotas commencing 1 October 2024 is 23:59 Wednesday 10 July 2024.

Organisations can find the 2022 CRM12 form at CRM12: duty solicitor application when moving firm to submit their application.

Completed applications should be saved as an excel file and emailed to crm12@justice.gov.uk by no later than 23:59 Wednesday 10 July 2024. We are already accepting CRM12 submissions for the October 24 rota period and will continue to do so up until the deadline of 23:59 Wednesday 10 July 2024. We will not accept CRM12 application submissions received after the above CRM12 application deadline for inclusion on the October 24 rotas.

Organisations should use the new 2022 CRM12:

  • To add to the October 2024 rotas any newly qualified duty solicitors who will be engaged by you on 1 October 2024 - a copy of their Law Society CLAS certificate should be sent with the CRM12 application.
  • To add to the October 2024 rotas any duty solicitors who will move organisations and be engaged by you on 1 October 2024.
  • To change for the October 2024 rotas, the office from which any of your organisation’s duty solicitors on the April 24 rotas are engaged. The duty solicitor(s) will move to the duty scheme(s) listed in your organisation’s 2022 contract schedule against the new office.
  • For duty solicitors on London Magistrates’ court duty schemes, to change the court scheme choices, where eligible to do so.

When you become aware that a duty solicitor will cease to be engaged by you, you must email straight away both your contract manager and duty team at dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk. You cannot use the CRM12 form and wait until the CRM12 deadline for the next rota period.

We do not need CRM12 applications if there are no changes to be made.

On the CRM12 form please make sure that the correct date is supplied for when the duty solicitor will be engaged by you under the column heading ‘Date Duty Solicitor joined or is to join this Office / Scheme/s’. The DSCC will use this date to move a duty solicitor from the old organisation to the new organisation and/or old office to new office with the same firm. LAA and DSCC will not be held responsible if duty calls are missed or sent to the wrong place due to an incorrect date being entered on the form.

We expect to publish new member’s lists (not rotas) on our website by Tuesday 16 July 2024 to allow firms to check that their duty solicitors are recorded correctly. We ask that feedback is provided by email only, so that we can keep a record of any issues and amend and respond accordingly to those who raise them. The deadline for us to receive feedback relating to the members lists will be Monday 22 July 2024.

Duty solicitor rotas 3 April 2024 to 30 September 2024

Please find below a link to the April 2024 rotas on the Google Drive. All rotas are subject to change at any time during the rota period as further adjustments may be required.

If you have any queries about the rotas, please email these to dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk and allow us time to investigate. Queries should be sent by email only. Please be patient as we are unlikely to be able to respond immediately.

New Rotas on Google Drive

A guide to accessing rotas via Google Drive (PDF, 572 KB, 10 pages)

Duty solicitor members list 3 April 2024 to 30 September 2024

The members lists will generally only show rota schemes. Courts will only be listed separately where a choice had to be made from alternative options or if there are restrictions on eligibility due to postcode. All other courts are included on the normal rota schemes.

Organisations should check that all duty solicitors are listed correctly. Organisations may contact crm12@justice.gov.uk regarding any inaccuracies with the members lists. We are unable to accept any new requests for changes to the April 2024 rotas, and we cannot accept requests from individual duty solicitors. We ask that queries are sent by email only to the above address, so that we can keep a record and respond accordingly to those who raise them. The deadline for us to receive feedback relating to the members lists is Monday 22 January 2024.

Organisations are reminded of their obligation to ensure that their contact details are accurate and kept up to date via the Duty Solicitor Contact Centre website in accordance with paragraph 9.22 of the 2022 Standard Crime Contract Specification.

We expect to publish the new rotas early March 2024.

Please find below the link to the scheme members list on the Google Drive, where the April 2024 scheme members list has now been added.

Scheme Members List

CRM12 Application information

Duty solicitor rotas: 3 April 2024 to 30 September 2024

The CRM12 application deadline for adding duty solicitors to the rotas commencing 3 April 2024 is 23:59 Wednesday 10 January 2024.

Organisations can find the 2022 CRM12 form at CRM12: duty solicitor application when moving firm to submit their application.

Completed applications should be saved as an excel file and emailed to crm12@justice.gov.uk by no later than 23:59 Wednesday 10 January 2024. We will not accept late applications.

Organisations should use the new 2022 CRM12:

  • To add to the April 2024 rotas any newly qualified duty solicitors who will be engaged by you on 3 April 2024 - a copy of their Law Society CLAS certificate should be sent with the CRM12 application.
  • To add to the April 2024 rotas any duty solicitors who will move organisations and be engaged by you on 3 April 2024.
  • To change for the April 2024 rotas, the office from which any of your organisation’s duty solicitors on the October 23 rotas are engaged. The duty solicitor(s) will move to the duty scheme(s) listed in your organisation’s 2022 contract schedule against the new office.
  • For duty solicitors on London Magistrates’ court duty schemes, to change the court scheme choices, where eligible to do so.

When you become aware that a duty solicitor will cease to be engaged by you, you must email straight away both your contract manager and duty team at dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk. You cannot use the CRM12 form and wait until the CRM12 deadline for the next rota period.

We do not need CRM12 applications if there are no changes to be made.

On the CRM12 form please make sure that the correct date is supplied for when the duty solicitor will be engaged by you under the column heading ‘Date Duty Solicitor joined or is to join this Office / Scheme/s’. The DSCC will use this date to move a duty solicitor from the old organisation to the new organisation and/or old office to new office with the same firm. LAA and DSCC will not be held responsible if duty calls are missed or sent to the wrong place due to an incorrect date being entered on the form.

We expect to publish new member’s lists (not rotas) on our website by Tuesday 16 January 2024 to allow firms to check that their duty solicitors are recorded correctly. We ask that feedback is provided by email only, so that we can keep a record of any issues and amend and respond accordingly to those who raise them. The deadline for us to receive feedback relating to the members lists will be Monday 22 January 2024.

Duty solicitor rotas 1 October 2023 to 2 April 2024

Please find below a link to the October 2023 rotas on the Google Drive. All rotas are subject to change at any time during the rota period as further adjustments may be required.

If you have any queries about the rotas, please email these to dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk and allow us time to investigate. Queries should be sent by email only. Please be patient as we are unlikely to be able to respond immediately.

New Rotas on Google Drive

A guide to accessing rotas via Google Drive (PDF, 572 KB, 10 pages)

Duty solicitor members list 1 October 2023 to 2 April 2024

The members lists will generally only show rota schemes. Courts will only be listed separately where a choice had to be made from alternative options or if there are restrictions on eligibility due to postcode. All other courts are included on the normal rota schemes.

Organisations should check that all duty solicitors are listed correctly. Organisations may contact crm12@justice.gov.uk regarding any inaccuracies with the members lists. We are unable to accept any new requests for changes to the October 23 rotas, and we cannot accept requests from individual duty solicitors. We ask that queries are sent by email only to the above address, so that we can keep a record and respond accordingly to those who raise them. The deadline for us to receive feedback relating to the members lists is Friday 21 July 2023.

Organisations are reminded of their obligation to ensure that their contact details are accurate and kept up to date via the Duty Solicitor Contact Centre website in accordance with paragraph 9.22 of the 2022 Standard Crime Contract Specification.

We expect to publish the new rotas early September 2023.

Please find below the link to the scheme members list on the Google Drive, where the October 2023 scheme members list has now been added.

Scheme Members List

Duty solicitor rotas 1 April 2023 to 30 September 2023

Please find below a link to the April 2023 rotas on the Google Drive. All rotas are subject to change at any time during the rota period as further adjustments may be required.

If you have any queries about the rotas, please email these to dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk and allow us time to investigate. Queries should be sent by email only. Please be patient as we are unlikely to be able to respond immediately.

New Rotas on Google Drive

A guide to accessing rotas via Google Drive (PDF, 572 KB, 10 pages)

Duty solicitor members list 1 April 2023 to 30 September 2023

The members lists will generally only show rota schemes. Courts will only be listed separately where a choice had to be made from alternative options or if there are restrictions on eligibility due to postcode. All other courts are included on the normal rota schemes.

Organisations should check that all duty solicitors are listed correctly. Organisations may contact crm12@justice.gov.uk regarding any inaccuracies with the members lists. We are unable to accept any new requests for changes to the April 23 rotas, and we cannot accept requests from individual duty solicitors. We ask that queries are sent by email only to the above address, so that we can keep a record and respond accordingly to those who raise them. The deadline for us to receive feedback relating to the members lists is Friday 20 January 2023.

Organisations are reminded of their obligation to ensure that their contact details are accurate and kept up to date via the Duty Solicitor Contact Centre website in accordance with paragraph 9.22 of the 2022 Standard Crime Contract Specification.

We expect to publish the new rotas early March 2023.

Please find below the link to the scheme members list on the Google Drive, where the April 2023 scheme members list has now been added.

Scheme Members List

Please note, the April 2023 scheme members list has been produced following the recent CRM12 application process.

Please email dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk if a duty solicitor gives formal notice of leaving or leaves your employment.

Duty solicitor rotas 3 January 2023 to 31 March 2023

Please find below a link to the January 2023 rotas on the Google Drive. All rotas are subject to change at any time during the rota period as further adjustments may be required.

If you have any queries about the rotas, please email these to dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk and allow us time to investigate. Queries should be sent by email only. Please be patient as we are unlikely to be able to respond immediately.

New Rotas on Google Drive

A guide to accessing rotas via Google Drive (PDF, 572 KB, 10 pages)

Duty solicitor members list 3 January 2023 to 31 March 2023

The members lists will generally only show rota schemes. Courts will only be listed separately where a choice had to be made from alternative options or if there are restrictions on eligibility due to postcode. All other courts are included on the normal rota schemes.

Organisations should check that all duty solicitors are listed correctly. Organisations may contact crm12@justice.gov.uk regarding any inaccuracies with the members lists. We are unable to accept any new requests for changes to the January 23 rotas, and we cannot accept requests from individual duty solicitors. We ask that queries are sent by email only to the above address, so that we can keep a record and respond accordingly to those who raise them. The deadline for us to receive feedback relating to the members lists is Friday 21 October 2022.

Organisations are reminded of their obligation to ensure that their contact details are accurate and kept up to date via the Duty Solicitor Contact Centre website in accordance with paragraph 9.22 of the 2022 Standard Crime Contract Specification.

We expect to publish the new rotas early December 2022.

Please find below the link to the scheme members list on the Google Drive, where the January 2023 scheme members list has now been added.

Scheme Members List

Please note, the January 2023 scheme members list has been produced following the recent CRM12 application process.

Please email dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk if a duty solicitor gives formal notice of leaving or leaves your employment.

Duty solicitor rotas 1 October 2022 to 2 January 2023

Please find below a link to the October 2022 rotas on the Google Drive. All rotas are subject to change at any time during the rota period as further adjustments may be required.

If you have any queries about the rotas, please email these to dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk and allow us time to investigate. Queries should be sent by email only. Please be patient as we are unlikely to be able to respond immediately.

New Rotas on Google Drive

A guide to accessing rotas via Google Drive (PDF, 572 KB, 10 pages)

Duty solicitor members lists 1 October 2022 to 2 January 2023

The members lists will generally only show rota schemes. Courts will only be listed separately where a choice had to be made from alternative options or if there are restrictions on eligibility due to postcode. All other courts are included on the normal rota schemes.

Organisations should check that all duty solicitors are listed correctly. Organisations may contact crm12@justice.gov.uk regarding any inaccuracies with the members lists. We are unable to accept any new requests for changes to the October 22 rotas, and we cannot accept requests from individual duty solicitors. We ask that queries are sent by email only to the above address, so that we can keep a record and respond accordingly to those who raise them. The deadline for us to receive feedback relating to the members lists is Friday 12 August 2022.

Organisations are reminded of their obligation to ensure that their contact details are accurate and kept up to date via the Duty Solicitor Contact Centre website in accordance with paragraph 9.22 of the 2022 Standard Crime Contract Specification.

We expect to publish the new rotas mid-September 2022.

Please find below the link to the scheme members list on the Google Drive.

Scheme Members List

Please note this members list has been produced following the recent CRM12 application process.

Please email dutysolqueries@justice.gov.uk if a duty solicitor gives formal notice of leaving or leaves your employment.

Privacy Notice for Defence Solicitor Call Centre

Privacy Notice May 2022 Summary - DSCC Privacy Notice - May 2022 (MS Word Document, 31.5 KB)

Standard crime contract

The 2017 Standard Crime Contract is available on GOV.UK.

The Standard Crime Contract 2022 is available on GOV.UK.

Postcode tool

Duty_Solicitor_Postcode_Tool.pdf (publishing.service.gov.uk)

Search the duty solicitor postcode tool to see which schemes your firm is eligible for, based on postcode or borough.

Civil duty solicitor guidance

Duty solicitors in civil matters: find Housing Possession Court Duty Scheme (HPCDS) forms, guidance and invitations to tender for work.

Published 1 June 2014
Last updated 3 April 2024 + show all updates

  1. CRM12 application deadline publication

  2. Publication of duty solicitor rotas for the April 2024-September 2024 period.

  3. Duty solicitor members list for April 2024 rotas publication.

  4. Publication of the new CRM12 application information for the April 2024 rotas. Removal of old CRM12 application information.

  5. Publication of the duty solicitor rotas - 1 October 2023 to 2 April 2024

  6. Publication of the duty solicitor scheme members list for the October 23 rotas

  7. CRM12 application information for the October 23 duty solicitor rotas added.

  8. Publication of the duty solicitor rotas - 1 April 23 to 30 September 23.

  9. Scheme members lists added for the 1 April 2023 to 30 September 2023 rotas

  10. Publication of the duty solicitor rotas starting 3 January 2023 to 31 March 2023

  11. Publication of the new CRM12 application deadline for the duty solicitor rotas commencing 1 April 2023.

  12. Information concerning the January 2023 duty solicitor scheme member list has now been added.

  13. Publication of the duty solicitor rotas - 1 October 2022 to 2 January 2023.

  14. CRM12 application information added for the duty solicitor rotas commencing 3 January 2023.

  15. Link added to the scheme members list on the google drive.

  16. Publication of Duty Solicitor Members list for October 2022 rotas

  17. Publication of the duty solicitor rotas 1 April 22 to 30 September 22

  18. Publication of scheme members lists for the duty solicitor rotas commencing 1 April 2022

  19. Added CRM12 application deadline and information for April 2022 rotas

  20. Duty solicitor rotas 1 October 21 to 31 March 22 now added.

  21. Addition of Scheme Members Lists for the October 21 Duty Solicitor Rotas

  22. CRM12 application deadline and information added for the rota period - 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022

  23. Duty solicitor rotas from 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021 added.

  24. Duty solicitor members list added for the rota period starting 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021

  25. New CRM12 application deadline and information added for the rota period 1 April 2021 to 30 September 2021

  26. Duty solicitor rotas starting 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021 added.

  27. Privacy Notice for Defence Solicitor Call Centre added

  28. Duty solicitor members lists added for October 2020 rotas

  29. CRM12 application deadline and information has been added for the 1 October 2020 to 31 March 2021 duty solicitor rotas

  30. Duty Solicitor rotas from 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020 added

  31. Duty solicitor members lists added for the 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020 rotas and addition of document relating to rota publishing changes

  32. New CRM12 application deadline updated for the duty solicitor rotas 1 April 2020 to 30 September 2020

  33. Publication of duty solicitor rotas 1 October 2019 to 31 March 2020 amended to add a rota

  34. Publication of duty solicitor rotas from 1 October 2019 to 31 March 2020

  35. Added duty solicitor members lists for the 1 October 2019 to 31 March 2020 rotas

  36. CRM 12 deadline and application information for duty solicitor rotas 1 October 2019 to 31 March 2020.

  37. Added duty solicitor rotas commencing 1 April 2019

  38. Duty solicitor rota members list for rotas commencing 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019

  39. Updated duty solicitor rotas for 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019 published.

  40. Application information updated for rotas: 1 April 2019 to 30 September 2019.

  41. Updated duty solicitor rotas for 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019 published.

  42. Updated duty solicitor rotas for 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019 published.

  43. Published duty solicitor rotas for 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019.

  44. Published the members list for the October 2018 rotas.

  45. Application information updated as the CRM12 deadline for the October 2018 duty solicitor rotas has now been extended to 23 July 2018 - the same date as the changes that are being made to the 2017 Standard Crime Contract and associated guidance.

  46. Updated duty solicitor rotas for 1 April 2018 to 30 September 2018 published.

  47. Updated duty solicitor rotas for 1 April 2018 to 30 September 2018 published.

  48. Application information updated for rotas: 1 October 2018 to 31 March 2019.

  49. Updated duty solicitor rotas for 1 April 2018 to 30 September 2018 published.

  50. Updated duty solicitor rotas: 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2018 published.

  51. Duty solicitor rotas for 1 April to 30 September 2018 published.

  52. Updated duty solicitor rotas: 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2018 published.

  53. Members list for 1 April 2018 published.

  54. Updated Duty Solicitor Rotas: 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2018 published.

  55. Duty solicitor rotas 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2018 published.

  56. Application information updated.

  57. Updated duty rotas published.

  58. Duty solicitor members lists 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2018 published.

  59. Updated Duty Solicitor Rotas 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017 published.

  60. Updated rotas and application information for duty solicitor rotas:1 January 2018 to 31 March 2018 published.

  61. Updated Duty Solicitor Rotas 1 July 2017 – 31 December 2017 published.

  62. Updated duty solicitor rotas 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017 and members list published.

  63. Revised members list and duty solicitor rotas for 1 July 2017 to 31 December 2017 published.

  64. Duty solicitor members lists from 1 July to 31 December 2017 published

  65. Duty solicitor rotas 1 April 2017 to 30 June 2017 published and members list updated.

  66. Duty solicitor members list published.

  67. Duty solicitor rotas for October 1 2016 to 31 March 2017 published.

  68. Duty Solicitor Members Lists for the rotas commencing 1st October 2017 added to page.

  69. Update on CRM12 deadline.

  70. Duty solicitor rotas for 1 April 2016 to 30 September 2016 published.

  71. Updated duty solicitor members lists added to page.

  72. Duty solicitor member list published.

  73. Notice about deadline for duty solicitor changes

  74. New duty solicitors rotas added

  75. Duty solicitor rotas for use between 1 October 2015 to 10 January 2016 published.

  76. Updated to include October 2015 Duty Solicitor rotas

  77. Duty solicitor rotas for 1 July 2015 to 30 September 2015 published.

  78. Duty solicitor members list for July 2015 published.

  79. Updated information about duty solicitor rotas.

  80. New rotas added

  81. Duty solicitors list - January 2015 published.

  82. First published.

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