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FREE LEGAL AID CENTRES M A Y CLOSE
The law students, who now run eight free legal advice
centres on a voluntary basis throughout Dublin, warned
T.D.s and Senators in Leinster House yesterday that
they will be forced to close down at the end of this year,
unless the Government accepts its reponsibilities in this
field.
About 50 deputies and senators met a deputation
from F.L.A.C. (Free Legal Advice Centrds) and heard
an account of the rapidly-growing demand on the
voluntary F.L.A.C. services.
Miss Barbara Hussey, chairman of F.L.A.G. told the
Oireachtas members: "Unless F.L.A.G. receives a firm
commitent from the Government that it intends to
introduce a more comprehensive State free legal aid
system, we will be forced to withdraw our voluntary
service."
Miss Hussey and other F.L.A.C. Council members
went to Leinster House to lobby for the introduction
of a State system, and she said at a press conference
afterwards that their representations seemed to have
evoked "a very favourable reaction."
However, Miss Hussey added : "If we feel that the
State is going to do something, we are prepared to help
out. But if we feel that the State is not going to do
anything, then we will have to close down."
She said that, apart from the increasing public de-
mand which is more than the students' limited resources
can cope with, they had some fears that "if we con-
tinue this service we may even be postponing the intro-
duction of a free State-run system."
4,000 Clients
Since the first Free Legal Advice Centre was set up
in 1967, F.L.A.C. has been consulted by nearly 4,000
clients. The three largest categories of cases have been
interpersonal relations cases (mainly marital disputes),
landlord and tenant cases, and criminal cases.
The 80 students who run F.L.A.C. have the volun-
tary assistance of 60 solicitors and 40 barristers, and the
withdrawal of their service would be a major blow to
people in the lower income brackets who come into
contact, either voluntarily or involuntarily, with the
Courts system.
It was announced earlier this week—and the coin-
cidence has evoked some comment—that F.L.A.C. was
to get an allocation from the £200,000 extra which
was promised in the Budget for child-care services.
The F.L.A.C. deputation yesterday heard from the
Attorney-General, Mr. Declan Costello, that the amount
to be allocated to their organisation is £5,000. He was
unable, however, to elaborate on how the Minister for
Justice would require this money to be spent.
The Minister, Mr. Cooney, was attending a Senate
debate and was unable to meet the F.L.A.C. members,
but he is to contact them in the near future with
details.
However, a F.L.A.C. council member, Mr. Alan
Shatter, pointed out later : "We are trying to emphasise
that we are only an interim service, and no matter
how much money we get, we cannot cope with the
long term problem."
The £5,000, F.L.A.C. members felt, might be for a
duty solicitor to advise defendants in the Dublin
Children's Court, and to provide some badly-needed
secretarial services. But this, they added, would leave
many other juveniles—in Ballymun, Rathfarnham and
Ballyfermot area courts, and throughout the country—
still without legal assistance.
The existing limited system of State-provided free
legal aid—it is available only in criminal cases and then
only in exceptional circumstances—was described as
totally inadequate by F.L.A.C. members, but they said
that at least some help was available for people charged
with criminal offences.
No legal aid whatsoever was provided by the State
for civil actions. They commented that there seemed
recently to have been a relaxation in the attitude of the
courts to granting legal aid in criminal cases. It was
now granted much more readily than a couple of years
ago. But the Department of Justice did little to publi-
cise its availability, F.L.A.C. pointed out.
A Public Right
Among the other points made by Miss Hussey in the
briefing for Oireachtas members was that F.L.A.C.
should not have to provide what was, in effect, a charit-
able service. "Free legal aid should be a right which
people are entitled to, not something they should be
dependent on a voluntary organisation for," she said.
"We have no wish to perpetuate this charitable system."
She added : "We have always left the State to intro-
duce its own system of free legal aid and so we are not
interested in receiving money to finance our voluntary
work. We do not want to continue our service in-
definitely as an inadequate alternative to a compre-
henive State aid scheme."
If definite steps to initiate a statutory service are not
taken by the Department of Justice, F.L.A.C. will close
down their centres from next January 1. Miss Hussey
said, however : "We are prepared to cooperate fully
with the Minister for Justice in devising a free legal aid
system in criminal and civil cases if a firm commitment
is forthcoming from him."
The F.L.A.C. deputation circulated a questionnaire
to deputies and senators at the briefing to ascertain
their attitude to the question of introducing a State
financed system. The estimated figure to run such a
system is £200,000. Government Ministers who heard
the F.L.A.C. case yesterday included the Minister for
Foreign Affairs, Dr. FitzGerald, the Minister for Posts
and Telegraphs, Dr. Cruise O'Brien, and the Minister
for Education, Mr. Burke. The former Minister for
Justice, Mr. Des O'Malley, was also present and
F.L.A.C. are to press for a meeting with the Minister
for Justice, Mr. Cooney, on another occasion.
Miss Hussey said at the press conference later that
the Attorney General had indicated that there were
going to be some reforms in the law relating to child
offenders and also in legislation concerning marital
cases. He had not indicated any official attitude on the
question of a comprehensive free State legal aid scheme.
{The Irish Times,
June 1973)
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