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GAZETTE
N
W
NOVEMBER 1992
Civil Legal Aid Charter Published
A newly formed group, the Alliance
for Civil Legal Aid, has published a
Charter for Civil Legal Aid which it
has delivered to the Minister for
Justice,
PadraigFlynn,
with a
request for an immediate meeting to
discuss its implementation. The
Alliance for Civil Legal Aid
comprises various non governmental
groups who have been campaigning
for the development of a
comprehensive scheme of civil legal
aid and advice.
The Alliance says that successive
Governments have ignored the crisis
in legal aid. The publication of the
Charter for Civil Legal Aid is the
first step by the Alliance in a
campaign to achieve a comprehensive
scheme of legal aid.
The Charter states that access to the
law is vital in a society committed to
justice and equality. It says that:
" The structure of our own society
prevents many people from using the
law in order to protect their rights.
In the interests of justice, all
obstacles to access to the law must
be removed. A commitment to
equality demands that every person
be held equal before the law, thus
effective access to legal services must
be guaranteed."
The Charter goes on to enunciate
the following principles:
• Every person is entitled to
effective access to the law.
• In particular, the State shall
ensure through the provision of
public legal services that no
person shall be denied access to
the law by reason of their
poverty, sex, geographical
location, disability or ethnic
origin.
• The right to public legal services
shall be established by
legislation.
• Such public legal services shall
include legal aid, advice,
information and education, shall
be provided in a manner best
suited to the needs of the
individual and the needs of
the local community; shall
respect the dignity and privacy
of the individual; shall be
properly funded and properly
advertised.
• All legislation establishing social
rights shall ensure effective access
to public legal services to
vindicate these rights."
The Council of the Law Society will
consider endorsement of the terms
of the Charter at its November
meeting.
•
Separation Agreements - The Financial Implications
Solicitors Financial
Services
It is a well documented fact that the
number of marriage separations in
Ireland is on the increase.
When dealing with a marriage
separation agreement one of the
areas which should be borne in
mind is that of the financial security
of the financially dependent
spouse (usually the wife) and
children. Assuming that maintenance
payments have been agreed,
consideration should be given to
the situation which would arise
in the event of the death of the
main income earner (for the
purpose of this article we will
assume that the income earner is the
husband).
Maintenance payments can be
protected by effecting a life
assurance policy on the life of the
husband in the name of the wife.
This means that the wife is the
owner of the policy and any benefit
which arises is not subject to
succession rights.
In the event of a serious illness -
such as heart disease or cancer -
affecting the husband's earning
power, a critical illness policy can be
used to pay a tax free lump sum to
the wife thus ensuring that a
subsequent decrease in the husband's
earnings will not affect maintenance
payments.
Adequate permanent health
insurance on the husband's life
ensures that in the event of his being
unable to work owing to long-term
illness, income will be provided to
enable him continue maintenance
payments.
The final matter which should
be considered is that of the
financial position of both parties on
retirement. Proper pension
planning should be undertaken to
ensure that the income on
retirement of the husband will be
sufficient to support maintenance
payments.
For further information on any of
the above matters telephone
Tom
Kennedy
at (01) 781599 or write to
Solicitors' Division, Sedgwick
Financial Services, 18/19 Harcourt
Street, Dublin 2.
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