151 / 482
GAZETTE
APRIL 1989
The Civil Legal Aid Scheme
- Scope and Operation
In its latest Annual Report, the Legal Aid Board has drawn attention
to what is described as . . . "an increasing tendency . . . "on the
part of private practitioners to refer clients of modest means to the
Civil Legal Aid service; it is not surprising that this would tend to
occur in complex family law cases where . . . "costs seem likely
to go beyond the clients' resources . .
The Board, therefore, considers it desirable that practitioners
should have information on the scope and operation of the Scheme;
the purpose of this article is to outline some of its essential features.
Background to the Scheme
Background information on the
Scheme will be kept to a minimum.
The emphasis is on practical
matters - how does the Scheme
work, who is entitled, what do
clients pay for the service, how
available is it etc.?
The Scheme was introduced on
a non-Statutory basis by the
Minister for Justice in 1980. It is
governed by a detailed set of
Government-approved rules con-
tained in a document entitled
"Scheme of Civil Legal Aid and
Advice"; this document is available
from the Government Publications
Sales Office (price 90p). (PL. 1532
- May 1983)
Many of the rules in the Scheme
are - contrary to general belief -
in line with recomendations
contained in the Pringle Report
published in 1979. That is not to
say that all of the recommenda-
tions contained in the Pringle
Report were followed - there are
some quite significant differences.
The Pringle Report, for example,
recommended that services be
provided by salaried lawyers
working in Law Centres and by
private practitioners, but the
Scheme excludes the latter.
The Legal Aid Board - Progress
to Date.
The legal aid service is adminis-
tered by a Board, appointed by the
Minister for Justice. The Board,
according to the Scheme, . . . "will
consist of a Chairman, and twelve
ordinary members of whom two
will be practising barristers and two
will be practising solicitors
At the time of writing, there are
twelve members in all - three
barristers (two Seniors, one Junior,
one of the Seniors being Chair-
man), three solicitors, three civil
servants and three persons repre-
senting other interests.
To date, the Board has opened
twelve Law Centres. These are
By
Timothy Dalton
Solicitor*
located in Dublin City (three
centres), Tallaght, Cork City (two
centres), Limerick, Waterford,
Galway, Sligo, Tralee and Athlone.
The Law Centres are staffed by
solicitors who are full-time em-
ployees of the Board. Twenty-nine
solicitors are now employed, most
of whom had been engaged in
private practice prior to joining the
Legal Aid service. The support staff
in Law Centres (clerical and typing)
are on secondment to the Board
from various Government De-
partments.
Legal aid and advice is also
provided by the Board's staff on a
part-time basis in areas other than
those just mentioned. Under this
arrangment, services are provided
at nineteen venues - fifteen of
them being in counties which do
not have a full-time Law Centre.
These part-time centres or
"clinics" are visited by the Board's
solicitors once or twice a month.
The total financial provision for
the Board's operation is now in the
region of £1.9m per annum.
Who Qualifies?
An applicant will qualify for legal
aid if the Board is satisfied that
certain requirements are met. There
are two basic eligibility tests.
(a) a "merits" test, and
(b ) a means test.
Each of these is discussed briefly
below.
Two further matters having to do
with means are also discussed -
for convenience, however, and in
order to avoid confusion, they are
treated separately i.e.
(c ) assessment of an applicant's
capital resources, and
(d)the payment of contributions.
(A) "Mer i t s" test. The essential
question for t)\e purpose of
assessing the "merits" of any
application for legal services is
whether . . . .
"a reasonably
prudent
person whose means were
outside
(those specified in the
Scheme)
would be likely to
seek such service at his own
expense, if his means were
such that the cost involved,
while representing a financial
obstacle to him, would not be
such as to impose undue
financial hardship ..." and
"a competent lawyer would
be likely to advise him to obtain
such services."
The purpose of the Scheme, in
other words, is not to put the
person of limited means in the
position of a person for whom
"money is no object" but in the
position of the person whose
means, while not over-abundant,
are sufficient to cover essential
legal services.
This general test of merit is
supported by various other
provisions in the Scheme which are
to the same general effect. There
is provision, for example, that the
applicant must have . . . "as a
matter of law, reasonable grounds
for taking, defending, or being a
* Timothy Dalton, Solicitor, was
former Deputy Chief Executive of
the Legal Aid Board. He is now
Assistant
Secretary
in the
Department of Justice.
137