Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

Related legal acts

Key definition

Company definition

What does Company mean? In legal practice, company describes an incorporated association formed to carry on business or another lawful purpose. Across England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland this ordinarily means a body corporate formed and registered under the Companies Act 2006; in Ireland, under the Companies Act 2014. A company has separate legal personality (Salomon v A Salomon & Co Ltd), can own assets, enter contracts, sue and be sued, and typically provides limited liability for its members. Common forms are the private company limited by shares (Ltd), the public limited company (plc), the company limited by guarantee and the unlimited company....

Corporate defendants after LASPO 2012: Defence Costs Order restrictions, Supreme Court exception, directors’ legal aid rules, and unlimited magistrates’ court fines (England and Wales)

Published by a LexisNexis Corporate Crime expert

Practice notes

ARCHIVED: This Practice Note is archived and is not maintained.

The Legal aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO 2012) took effect on 1 October 2012 and dramatically altered the ability of an acquitted, privately funded Defendant to recover the expenditure of mounting their defence. These reforms markedly narrowed the scope for reimbursement where individuals had paid privately. The shift provoked concern among solicitors, many of whom considered the policy both unfair and unwarranted. In turn, the Law Society issued guidance titled Defence Costs Orders, outlining practitioners’ obligation to tell clients about the new approach to defence costs. These changes affected acquitted defendants who privately funded their defence.

What has changed?

After LASPO 2012, Sch 7, came into force, the Prosecution of Offenders Act 1985 (POA 1985) was amended. As a result, legal costs—including fees, charges and expert witness costs—can no longer be included within a defendant’s costs order (DCO) save in the limited circumstances preserved by the amended POA 1985...

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Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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