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GAZETTE
APRIL 1989
may have the payments
waived either in whole or in
part in cases of severe
hardship,
( i i i) Contributions may, in
certain circumstances, be
paid by instalments.
Excluded Proceedings
Certain matters are excluded from
the scope of the Legal Aid Scheme,
though the exclusions have been
considerably modified over the
years.
From the outset, representation
for proceedings could be provided
only where the proceedings were
before a court (District, Circuit,
High or Supreme). Representation
before tribunals is excluded. Law
Centre Solicitors can (and regularly
do) provide advice in connection
with cases coming before tribunals
(for example, the Employment
Appeals Tribunal), but cannot
provide representation at the actual
tribunal hearing. If, however, the
decision of the tribunal is appealed
to the Courts, both legal advice and
representation may be provided.
One of the Schedules to the
Scheme lists various matters in
respect of which services will not
be granted ag. defamation and
debt collection (where the
applicant is the creditor). Some of
these exclusions have been the
subject of criticism; it is not the
purpose of this article to deal with
the criticisms, however, but simply
to outline the facts.
Two particular exclusions which
had been considerably modified i.e.
(i) "disputes concerning rights
and interests in or over land"
and
(ii) "conveyancing".
By virtue of
Ministerial Policy
Directives,
provision for which is
contained in the Scheme, disputes
concerning interests in land are
now regularly dealt with where
they form part of a wider family law
dispute (e.g. where the parties seek
to have their respective interests in
the family home determined by a
Court). Conveyaning will also be
dealt with in certain limited
circumstances, for example, where
a Separation Agreement is con-
cluded and it becomes necessary
to transfer the family home from
one spouse to the other. Con-
veyancing is dealt with under the
Scheme, however, only where, the
conveyance is an essential step in
the settling of a matrimonial
dispute and, in the opinion of the
Board, it is reasonable to have it
dealt with by a Law Centre
Solicitor.
Apart from land disputes that
arise in matrimonial cases, the
Board is also authorised to deal
with such matters where the
applicant appears to have been the
victim of fraud or undue influence,
provided that the property which is
the subject of the dispute is the
applicant's home and the applicant
suffers from . . . "an infirmity of
mind or body due to old age or to
other circumstances . . .". This
change (again introduced by a
Ministerial Policy Directive) enables
the Board to deal, for example, with
the elderly person who has
transferred his/her home to a close
relative on the basis of promises
which are subsequently unfulfilled.
Criminal cases involving the
defence of accused persons are
excluded from the scope of the
Scheme - they are dealt with
under the Criminal Legal Aid
Scheme.
How does the Service Operete?
The first step, usually, is to call to
one of the Board's Law Centres or
one of the "clinics". As with all
services - and this is true
particularly in the case of Dublin
and Cork where there are con-
siderable pressures - it is advis-
able to 'phone a Law Centre, in
advance, for an appointment. In
very exceptional circumstances -
for example, in the case of a
disabled person or a prisoner -
special arrangements can be made.
At the Centre, the clerical staff,
once satisfied that the applicant's
spouse is not already a client, will
ask the applicant to complete
application forms. (If the appli-
cant's spouse happens to be a
client, however, and the parties are
in conflict with each other, the
applicant is immediately referred to
another centre).
The application forms deal
mainly with the applicant's means;
the staff will, if necessary, assist in
having them completed. Prelimin-
ary assessment as to eligibility is
usually made there and then.
Despite the apparent complex-
ities of the means test, this part of
the procedure is completed, in
most cases, in about 10-15
minutes. The odd case, not sur-
prisingly, presents difficulties - it
may, for example, be necessary to
ask the applicant to produce evid-
For further details about Amstrad contact:
Derek O'Byrne-Whi te Telephone: (01) 259903 or (088) 559975
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