The Gazette 1981

SEPTEMBER 1981 Access to Justice and Legal Aid The State of Play by Ann Fitzgerald, Solicitor.

GAZETTE

I N R E C E NT times there has been a strong movement in ma ny countries to provide effective access to justice. S ome critics have been concerned to eliminate the cost barrier only while others have realised that financial considerations do not consititute the sole deterrent to the full use of the legal system by the poor and under- privileged. Frequently, the law is seen by the poor as an evil to be avoided at all c o s t s, not as a we a p on to enforce and protect basic rights, in view of the lack of involvement in the law-making process by the less powerful sections of our society, the poor themselves tend to recognise only traditional legal problems as worthy of attention. One American c omme n t a t or put it simply thus: "Poor people are not just like rich people without mo n e y . " 1 It could be said that a legal aid mo v eme nt must therefore involve s ome missionary effort. It must aim to reach those wh o have never had a c c e ss to the legal system. These people must be taught to use the law and the law must be revised and simplified for them. Lawyers must mo ve into more convenient offices — where are most solicitors' offices found in Co r k? — and learn about the problems of poverty while working to expand the legal system out wards. In a seminal study of three Lo nd on boroughs, it was found that as ma ny as 11% of those queried replied that they never g o to a lawyer, while 4 5% preferred a lawyer who normally acted for "people like them- selves." 2 Lawyers are generally ill-equipped to advise on j ob rights, social welfare and housing problems; in fact, any lawyer who qualified in this country before 1 9 70 will have had no formal training in a vital subject like family law. Although law courses are improving, the emphasis remains on property and commercial matters. Ralph Nader, the U . S. Pioneer of 'Bringing Law to the People' has said that lawyers are educated " . . . in a highly sophisticated form o f mind control that trades breadth of vision for the freedom to r o am in an intellectual c a g e . " 3 The first attempt in this country to provide a free legal service to those unable to afford a lawyer c ame from the law students themselves. In 1 9 6 9, a voluntary advice- giving organisation b a c k ed up by qualified professionals, w a s set up in both Cork and Dublin. (For reasons that are not relevant here, the Cork and Dublin groups have re mained separate and the latter, due no doubt to its larger size, has been more vocal over the years). In Dublin, responding to pressure from local groups and demand for the service, F . L . A . C. (The Free Legal Advice Centres Limited) expanded rapidly to a total of 16 centres in the

city by 1979. Each centre opened on one evening per week, yet despite the limited service, F . L . A . C. had handled some 3 2 , 0 0 0 cases by August 1 9 79 (with 2 4 , 0 0 0 of these from 1 9 7 5 - 7 9 ). It b e c ame clear that the Government was content to see law students carry the legal aid burden and so, in 1 9 73 F . L . A . C. threatened to withdraw. This produced a £ 5 , 0 0 0 grant, from the Department of Justice. In the following year, F . L . A . C. continued the bluff and o n ce again the Government capitulated — in July, 1 9 7 4, the Pringle Committee w as set up '. . . to advise on the introduction, at an early date, of a comprehensive s c h eme for legal aid and advice in civil matters. . . ." F . L . A . C. then decided, in 1 9 7 5, to open Ireland's first community law centre, to afford a model for the Pringle Committee's findings. The selection of Co o l o c k, on Dublin's northside, as the location was no accident. It is a poor urban area comprising predominantly Local Authority housing built since the early ' 6 0 s. Successful and influential prototypes were provided by the U . S. Legal Services P r o g r amme set up in conjunction with the 'War on Poverty' in 1 9 65 and by the U . K . 'Neighbour- h o od Law Centres,' the first of which was set up in North Kensington, a working-class area of West London, in the summer of 1 9 7 0, operating from a converted butcher's shop. As originally conceived, a " L aw Centre" should be found in the heart (if there is o ne of a poor area - the Co o l o ck centre is in the Northside Shopping Centre - concerning itself not only with individual clients but with recurring problems in the neighbourhood. There is small point tackling the s ame landlord on behalf of, say, three separate clients when a lawyer could equally act on behalf of the inhabitants of a wh o le street to the same end. The centre should open outside normal business hours providing a relaxed and open atmosphere. Local people would have a say in the running of the centre via a Ma n a g eme nt Commi t t ee — a law centre cannot other- wise offer a c ommun i ty service. The lawyer should be freed from concern about his or her o wn income; rather, funding should c ome from central government or a charitable trust — hence the term 'salaried lawyer.' Ow i ng to the lack of private solicitors' offices in the area and the absence, until recently, of any free legal aid scheme, the Co o l o ck Commu n i ty Law Centre has carried a heavy caseload. Th us the one solicitor employed has dealt with over 3 , 5 0 0 cases during the period 1 9 75 7 9. Nonetheless, to achieve s ome balance a "law officer" (a 167