Duty solicitors: rotas, information and guidance
Duty solicitors rotas, lists, standard crime contract 2025 and contact details.
Applies to England and Wales
CRM12 Application information
Duty solicitor rotas: 1 April 2027 to 30 September 2027
Deadline
The deadline for a properly completed CRM12 application to add duty solicitors to the rotas commencing 1 April 2027 is 23:59 Tuesday 12 January 2027.
The deadline applies to CRM12 applications from both new and existing providers.
CRM12 applications received after this deadline will not be accepted for inclusion on the April 2027 rotas.
CRM12 form
Providers can find the 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.
When to use the CRM12 form - New Providers
New providers who have successfully completed verification must submit the CRM12 form to add duty solicitors to the April 27 rotas.
Where a new applicant submits the CRM12 form prior to fully verifying their tender, this will not be accepted until verification has been successfully completed. The Application Guide at Crime Contract 2025 Tender - GOV.UK sets out how to apply for the 2025 crime contract and the verification process.
See also the below ‘When to use the CRM12 – All Providers’ section.
When to use the CRM12 form – Existing Providers who open a new office or move office
Existing providers must submit the CRM12 form to add to the April 27 rotas:
- duty solicitors to a new office, where you have received an updated 2025 contract schedule listing the eligible duty schemes under the new office’s postcode.
- duty solicitors to any new eligible duty schemes listed in the updated 2025 contract schedule sent to you following a change in office location. Your duty solicitors will immediately be removed from any schemes for which they are no longer eligible following the office move, but you must submit a CRM12 to add them to any new schemes they are eligible for following the office move.
Existing providers who wish to open a new office or move the location of an existing office that changes its duty scheme eligibility must complete the 2025 standard crime contract: additional office / service amendment form at Crime Contract 2025 Tender - GOV.UK. Only once the new office / office move has been verified and you have been sent an updated 2025 contract schedule listing the new eligible duty schemes, may the CRM12 form be submitted. See section 6 of the Application Guide at Crime Contract 2025 Tender - GOV.UK and section 7 of the Duty Solicitor Guidance at Standard Crime Contract 2025 - GOV.UK.
See also the below ‘When to use the CRM12 – All Providers’ section.
When to use the CRM12 form – Existing Providers
Existing providers must submit the CRM12 form to add to the April 27 rotas:
- any newly qualified duty solicitors who will be engaged by you on 1 April 2027 - a copy of their Law Society CLAS certificate should be sent with the CRM12 application.
- any duty solicitors who will move organisations and be engaged by you on 1 April 2027.
Existing providers must also submit the CRM12 form to change for the April 27 rotas:
- a duty solicitor’s London magistrates’ court duty schemes choices, where eligible to do so.
- the office from which any of your duty solicitors are engaged.
See also the below ‘When to use the CRM12 – All Providers’ section.
When to use the CRM12 form – All Providers
We are already accepting CRM12 applications for the April 27 rota period and will continue to do so up until the deadline of 23:59 Tuesday 12 January 2027. We will not accept CRM12 applications received after the deadline.
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 will be Engaged by your organisation’. The DSCC will use this date to move a duty solicitor from the old to the new organisation or old office to new office within the same firm. Please note that providing an incorrect date may result in duty calls and calls being sent to the wrong organisation.
When not to use the CRM12 form
We do not need CRM12 applications if there are no changes to be made.
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.
Members Lists
We expect to publish new member’s lists (not rotas) on our website by Friday 15 January 2027 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 Friday 22 January 2027.
Duty solicitor rotas 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027
Please find below a link to the October 2026 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. Thank you for your patience while we investigate your queries.
Duty solicitor members list 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027
The scheme 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 on the scheme members’ list prior to us commencing October 2026 rota production. Organisations may contact crm12@justice.gov.uk regarding any inaccuracies with the members’ lists. The deadline for us to receive these comments is on or before Friday, 24 July 2026. We ask that queries are sent by email only to the above email address, so that we can keep a record and respond accordingly. Thank you for your patience while we investigate your queries.
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 9.17 of the 2025 Standard Crime Contract Specification.
We expect to publish the October 2026 rotas in early September 2026.
Please find below the link to the scheme members’ list on the Google Drive, where the April 2026 scheme members’ list has now been added.
CRM12 Application information
Duty solicitor rotas: 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027
The CRM12 application deadline for adding duty solicitors to the rotas commencing 1 October 2026 is 23:59 Monday 13 July 2026.
Organisations can find the 2025 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 Monday 13 July 2026. We are already accepting CRM12 submissions for the October 26 rota period and will continue to do so up until the deadline of 23:59 Monday 13 July 2026. We will not accept CRM12 application submissions received after the above CRM12 application deadline for inclusion on the October 2026 rotas.
Organisations should use the new 2025 CRM12 for the October 2026 rotas:
(a) To add duty solicitors to an office already on the rotas;
(b) To add duty solicitors to an office not on the rotas;
(c) To add duty solicitors to the rotas for any new duty scheme(s) following an office move.
(a) The new 2025 CRM12 should be used to add duty solicitors for the October 26 rotas to an office already on the rotas as follows:
- Any newly qualified duty solicitors who will be engaged by you on 1 October 2026 - a copy of their Law Society CLAS certificate should be sent with the CRM12 application;
- Any duty solicitors who will move organisations and be engaged by you on 1 October 2026;
- To change the office from which any of your organisation’s duty solicitors are engaged. The duty solicitor(s) will move to the duty scheme(s) listed in your organisation’s 2025 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.
(b) The new 2025 CRM12 must only be submitted to add duty solicitors to an office not on the rotas where the office is listed in your organisation’s 2025 contract schedule. Where a properly completed CRM12 application is submitted by the above deadline, the duty solicitors will be added to the October 2026 rotas for the duty scheme(s) listed in the contract schedule against that office.
(c) If you move office, you must submit the new 2025 CRM12 to add duty solicitors to the October 2026 rotas for any new duty schemes listed against the office’s new address in your organisation’s 2025 contract schedule. You cannot submit the CRM12 unless your organisation’s 2025 contract schedule has been updated with the new office address and you must submit the CRM12 by the above deadline for the duty solicitors to be added to the October 2026 rotas. If as a result of the move, the office is no longer eligible for a duty scheme(s), your duty solicitors at that office will be immediately removed from the rotas for that duty scheme(s).
Further information on b) & c) can be found at section 6 of the Application Guide at Crime Contract 2025 Tender - GOV.UK and section 7 of the Duty Solicitor Guidance at Standard Crime Contract 2025 - GOV.UK.
CRM12 Completion
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 will be Engaged by your organisation’. The DSCC will use this date to move a duty solicitor from the old to the new organisation firm and/or old office to new office within the same firm. Please note that providing an incorrect date may result in duty calls and calls being sent to the wrong organisation.
Members Lists
We expect to publish new members’ lists (not rotas) on our website by Friday 17 July 2026 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 Friday 24 July 2026.
Duty solicitor rotas 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026
Please find below a link to the April 2026 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. Thank you for your patience while we investigate your queries.
Duty solicitor members list 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026
The scheme 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 on the scheme members’ list prior to us commencing April 2026 rota production. Organisations may contact crm12@justice.gov.uk regarding any inaccuracies with the members’ lists. The deadline for us to receive these comments is on or before Wednesday, 21 January 2026. We ask that queries are sent by email only to the above email address, so that we can keep a record and respond accordingly. Thank you for your patience while we investigate your queries.
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 9.17 of the 2025 Standard Crime Contract Specification.
We expect to publish the April 2026 rotas in early March 2026.
Please find below the link to the scheme members’ list on the Google Drive, where the April 2026 scheme members’ list has now been added.
Duty solicitor rotas 5 January 2026 to 31 March 2026
Please find below a link to the January 2026 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. Thank you for your patience while we investigate your queries.
CRM12 Application information
Duty solicitor rotas: 1 April 2026 to 30 September 2026
The CRM12 application deadline for adding duty solicitors to the rotas commencing 1 April 2026 is 23:59 Friday 9 January 2026.
Organisations can find the 2025 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 Friday 9 January 2026. We are already accepting CRM12 submissions for the April 26 rota period and will continue to do so up until the deadline of 23:59 Friday 9 January 2026. We will not accept CRM12 application submissions received after the above CRM12 application deadline for inclusion on the April 2026 rotas.
Organisations should use the new 2025 CRM12 for the April 2026 rotas:
(a) To add duty solicitors to an office already on the rotas;
(b) To add duty solicitors to an office not on the rotas;
(c) To add duty solicitors to the rotas for any new duty scheme(s) following an office move.
(a) The new 2025 CRM12 should be used to add duty solicitors for the April 26 rotas to an office already on the rotas as follows:
- any newly qualified duty solicitors who will be engaged by you on 1 April 2026 - a copy of their Law Society CLAS certificate should be sent with the CRM12 application.
- any duty solicitors who will move organisations and be engaged by you on 1 April 2026.
- To change the office from which any of your organisation’s duty solicitors are engaged. The duty solicitor(s) will move to the duty scheme(s) listed in your organisation’s 2025 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.
(b) The new 2025 CRM12 must only be submitted to add duty solicitors to an office not on the rotas where the office is listed in your organisation’s 2025 contract schedule. Where a properly completed CRM12 application is submitted by the above deadline, the duty solicitors will be added to the April 2026 rotas for the duty scheme(s) listed in the contract schedule against that office.
(c) If you move office, you must submit the new 2025 CRM12 to add duty solicitors to the April 2026 rotas for any new duty schemes listed against the office’s new address in your organisation’s 2025 contract schedule. You cannot submit the CRM12 unless your organisation’s 2025 contract schedule has been updated with the new office address and you must submit the CRM12 by the above deadline for the duty solicitors to be added to the April 2026 rotas. If as a result of the move, the office is no longer eligible for a duty scheme(s), your duty solicitors at that office will be immediately removed from the rotas for that duty scheme(s).
Further information on b) & c) can be found at section 6 of the Application Guide at Crime Contract 2025 Tender - GOV.UK and section 7 of the Duty Solicitor Guidance at Standard Crime Contract 2025 - GOV.UK.
CRM12 Completion
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 will be Engaged by your organisation’. The DSCC will use this date to move a duty solicitor from the old to the new organisation firm and/or old office to new office within the same firm. Please note that providing an incorrect date may result in duty calls and calls being sent to the wrong organisation.
Members Lists
We expect to publish new member’s lists (not rotas) on our website by Thursday 15 January 2026 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 Wednesday 22 January 2026.
Duty solicitor members list 5 January 2026 to 31 March 2026
The scheme 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 on the scheme members’ list prior to us commencing January 2026 rota production. Organisations may contact crm12@justice.gov.uk regarding any inaccuracies with the members’ lists. The deadline for us to receive these comments is on or before Thursday, 23 October 2025. We ask that queries are sent by email only to the above email address, so that we can keep a record and respond accordingly. Thank you for your patience while we investigate your queries.
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 9.17 of the 2025 Standard Crime Contract Specification.
We expect to publish the January 2026 rotas in early December 2025.
Please find below the link to the scheme members’ list on the Google Drive, where the January 2026 scheme members’ list has now been added.
Duty solicitor rotas 1 October 2025 to 4 January 2026
Please find below a link to the October 2025 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.
CRM12 Application information – January 2026 rotas (for organisations on the October 2025 duty solicitor rotas)
Duty solicitor rotas: 5 January 2026 to 31 March 2026
For organisations on the October 2025 duty solicitor rotas, the CRM12 application deadline for adding duty solicitors to the next set of rotas that commence on 5 January 2026 is 23:59 Tuesday 7 October 2025.
Organisations on the October 2025 rotas must use the new 2025 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 Tuesday 7 October 2025. We will not accept late applications.
The Scheme Members List - Google Drive at October 25 Scheme Members List sets out the duty solicitors and organisations on the October 2025 rotas.
New providers who are not included in the October 2025 rotas should have received a bespoke CRM12 form for January 2026 via email.
Completed bespoke January 26 CRM12 forms must be saved as an Excel file and emailed to crm12@justice.gov.uk by the deadline for new providers of 23:59 on Friday, 12 September 2025.
If you were expecting to receive a Bespoke January 2026 CRM12 form but haven’t yet received one, please contact us urgently at crm12@justice.gov.uk so we can investigate.
Organisations on the October 2025 rotas should use the new 2025 CRM12:
- To add to the January 2026 rotas any duty solicitors who will move organisations and be engaged by you on 5 January 2026.
- To add to the January 2026 rotas any newly qualified duty solicitors who will be engaged by you on 5 January 2026 – a copy of their Law Society CLAS certificate should be sent with the CRM12 application.
- To add to the January 2026 rotas duty solicitors for any of your offices not on the October 2025 rotas. This only applies where you have at least one office with duty solicitors on the October 2025 rotas and the offices you are adding had been part of your bid and have passed verification.
- To change for the January 2026 rotas, the office from which any of your organisation’s duty solicitors on the October 2025 rotas are engaged. The duty solicitor(s) will move to the duty scheme(s) listed in your organisation’s 2025 contract schedule against the new office.
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 wait until the CRM12 deadline for the next rota period.
We do not need CRM12 applications if there are no changes to be made from your existing October 25 membership.
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 will be engaged by your organisation’. The DSCC will use this date to move a duty solicitor from the old to the new organisation and/or old office to new office within the same firm. Please note that providing an incorrect date may result in duty calls being missed and/or sent to the wrong organisation.
We expect to publish new members’ lists (not rotas) on our website by Friday 17 October 2025 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 Thursday 23 October 2025.
Duty solicitor members list 1 October 2025 to 4 January 2026
Organisations should check that all duty solicitors are listed correctly on the scheme members list prior to us commencing October 25 rota production. Organisations may contact crm12@justice.gov.uk regarding any inaccuracies with the members lists. The deadline for us to receive these comments is Monday, 30 June 2025. We ask that queries are sent by email only, so that we can keep a record and respond accordingly.
Any provider wishing to amend their CRM12 application may also do so by submitting the amended CRM12 to crm12@justice.gov.uk no later than 23:59 on Monday, 30 June 2025. Please ensure the accompanying email clearly outlines any changes made, for example, details of additional duty solicitors or office/scheme allocation amendments, where permissible. The amended CRM12 must be on the CRM12 we sent to you for the October 25 rota and which you returned to us.
If adding Duty Solicitors, providers are reminded to undertake all reasonable checks, including obtaining written confirmation from such solicitors that they have not applied for duty slots with another organisation in relation to the October 2025 rota. If a Solicitor appears on CRM12s for two organisations, the LAA reserves the right to award slots to neither organisation.
Please note: the ability to amend CRM12s alongside the publication of the Duty Solicitor Scheme Members list only applies to the October 2025 rota period.
Queries and amended CRM12s should be sent by email only to crm12@justice.gov.uk. Please be patient and allow us time to investigate queries and process amendments to CRM12 applications. We are unlikely to be able to respond immediately
The scheme 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.
We expect to publish the October 25 rotas in early September 25.
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Standard crime contract
The 2017 Standard Crime Contract is available on GOV.UK.
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The Standard crime contract 2025 - GOV.UK is available on GOV.UK.
Postcode tool
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.