The Gazette 1972

(ii) Much legally-aided work is not remunerative for

solicitors so that many of them are reluctant to accept

many of the type of legally-aided cases which promise

to be excessively time-consuming.

(iii) Greatest defect is that there are many people

who would benefit by going to a solicitor but who do

not do so because :

(a) of insufficient publicity for both the Legal

Advice and Legal Aid Scheme;

(b) there are not enough solicitors in the required

areas—in many areas there are no solicitors' offices

and working people find difficulty in visiting solicitors'

offices which are open only during working hours;

attitude to lawyers and the law generally as some-

thing to keep well clear of. The law merely conjures

up visions for them of policemen and trouble;

(d) failure to recognise that legal remedies may be

available e.g. a man gets a notice to quit, brings it to a

housing authority or the man who gets notice from a

hire purchase company to pay off arrears of pay-

ments on goods that may have been defective goes

to a moneylender rather than a solicitor.

Conscious of these defects, the Law Society issued a

Memorandum which was followed by Reports of the

Society of Labour Lawyers and the Society, of Conser-

vative Lawyers, a second memorandum from the Law

Society and then in 1970 a report of the Advisory

Committee on the Better Provision of Legal Aid and

Assistance which more or less agreed with the proposals

of the Law Society's second memorandum.

Proposals for better provision of legal aid

These proposals were :

(1) £25 scheme which is now going through the

machinery of legislation and is expected to be enacted

shortly. Anyone whose means allow will be able to go to

a solicitor on the panel and get legal advice and assis-

tance by filling in a simple form regarding his means

and where the means are above a certain level paying

by instalments or otherwise a contribution towards the

costs. Investigation regarding resources is done by the

solicitor himself or his clerk. Short of actual litigation

which would be dealt with under the Legal Aid Scheme

and drawing of documents which would require' prior

approval the solicitor would do anything that was

necessary costing up to £25. Prior approval would be

necessary if the solicitor's costs would be over £25. This

scheme would enable legal advice to be given more

readilv and with less red tape.

(2) Second proposal, which is intended to overcome

the problems of inaccessibility of solicitors' offices and

the failure to associate lawyers with poor peoples' prob-

lems, is the establishment of local legal centres with full-

time salaried solicitors and secretarial staff. The Law

Society would run these centres in conjunction with

relevant local organisations and services.

In England in the 1940s. the Committee Report prior

to the establishment of the present legal advice and aid

scheme undrr 1949 legislation, recommended the estab-

lishment of a number of centres where legal advice

would be given by solicitors employed whole or part-

time for that purpose. This was never implemented and

instead a legal advice scheme was introduced so that

no alteration was made to the existing organisation and

framework of the legal profession.

Establishment of local legal centres proposed

It is interesting that now nearly twenty-five years

later, it is recommended in the recent reports referred

to, to revert to the original proposals because of the

problems and ineffectiveness of the present scheme.

The establishment of these local legal centres

with salaried solicitors might be more economical

and more effective in providing legal help for the

less well-off sections of the community than the existing

English scheme. If we are prepared and have

done our homework and research properly we could

bypass the faults of the English scheme when a civil

legal aid scheme is initiated in Ireland. As a matter of

interest I worked out that the cost of such a local

legal centre which could continue to use voluntary help

in preliminary interviewing would, if levied on the

Local Authorities result in an increase of about 3p in

the £ on the rates, based on the rate recently struck by

Dun Laoire Corporation.

In 1970 Irish Jurist, Desmond Green, suggested that

controlled experiments of such centres should be initi-

ated to test the validity of the hypotheses as regards

economy and efficiency in relation to Ireland. Nothing

has since been done, in this regard.

I suggest the establishment of a sub-committee or

working party of the Society of Young Solicitors to

study the optional schemes of legal aid and advice

which could be set up here and in particular the

feasibility of local legal centres with salaried solicitors.

The Free Legal Aid Centres are in the process of ex-

panding — a new Centre is being opened on Thursday,

9th December in Ballymun and we have been asked

to open Centres in three other areas. However more

Solicitors are needed for these new Centres and some

more are required for the existing Centres.

At present the Centres and the night on which they

open are: —

Ballyfermot: Wednesday night;

Rialto: Wednesday night;

Mountjoy Square: Wednesday night;

Molesworth Street: Tuesday night;

Crumlin: Friday night;

Ballymun: Thursday night.

If any Solicitors are interested in assisting the Organ-

isation he should write stating his name, address and

what Centre he would prefer, if possible, to be asked to

attend.

Please write to: John Glackin, Chairman F.L.A.C.,

Ozanam House, Mountjoy Square, Dublin 1, or 10

Seafield Avenue, Clontarf, Dublin 3.

SOLICITORS' GOLFING SOCIETY

94, Merrion Square,

OUTINGS 1972:

Dublin, 2.

^RES IDENTS PRIZE (James W. O'Donovan) Friday, 23rd June, 1972, at DELGANY GOLF CLUB.

CAPTAIN'S PRIZE (Thomas D. Shaw) Saturday, 30th September, 1972, at MULLINGAR.

H. N. ROBINSON,

Hon. Secretary.

153