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GAZETTE
V I E W P O I NT
SEPTEMBER 1993
Civil Legal Aid - One Step Forward,
One Step Back
In November, 1991, the Society made
a detailed submission to the
Government making
recommendations on necessary and
desirable improvements in the
Scheme of Civil Legal Aid and
Advice. It was pointed out in that
submission that the Scheme had been
seriously under-funded since its
inception and it was reeommended
that it should be broadened in its
scope and that private practitioners
should be brought within its ambit so
that a proper service could be
provided to those in need.
From research conducted by the
Society, it is clear that the Scheme of
Civil Legal Aid that operates in
Ireland is one of the worst - if not the
worst - in Western Europe. On a
per
capita
basis, Ireland spends about 8%
of that spent on civil legal aid in the
United Kingdom. (FLAC estimates
that there is one legal aid solicitor
serving the needs of 21,102 Social
Welfare recipients compared to a ratio
of one solicitor per 705 of the rest of
the population.) A reasonably
comprehensive and effective Scheme
of Civil Legal Aid and Advice could
be introduced in this country for
about £8m. Having regard to the
importance of providing assistance to
people to defend and vindicate their
legal rights, that would be a small
price to pay for such a service.
While the Law Society has no doubt
that the Minister for Equality & Law
Reform,
Mervyn Taylor
, TD, is
sincere in his commitment to
improving Civil Legal Aid, the recent
pilot scheme introduced by the
Minister, which envisages the
involvement of private practitioners
i n j he Civil Legal Aid Scheme, has
serious shortcomings.
Under the pilot project the Minister
has made a sum of £100,000 available
to the Legal Aid Board to enable them
to hire solicitors in private practice to
handle certain family law cases in the
District Court. However, the level of
fee offered to private practitioners of
£75 per case (reducing to £65 per case
after the first four cases) is so
inadequate that it left the Council of
the Society no choice but to
recommend to members not to
participate in the Scheme. But,
equally important, is the fact that the
pilot project is so limited in scope that
civil legal aid clients would not
receive a proper service under its
terms.
The pilot project only covers barring
orders, maintenance and custody
matters in the District Court. Parties
to a family law case will not,
therefore, be able to use the Scheme
to obtain legal aid to conclude a
separation agreement because the
Scheme does not cover the
negotiation of a Deed of Separation.
Thus, it will force parties to litigate,
possibly introducing unnecessary
acrimony in what are already
sensitive matters. If a legal aid client
in a family law case wants to
commence judicial separation
proceedings then he or she will have
to use a legal aid solicitor from a Law
Centre. Likewise, if the applicant
wishes to appeal from the District
Court, a Law Centre solicitor must be
used. It will be impossible, therefore,
for the private practitioner to form an
ongoing relationship with the legal
aid client.
The pilot scheme only applies to
court cases
and appears to assume
that solicitors could take more than
five such cases a day. Obviously, it is
envisaged that solicitors would not
see legal aid clients in their offices
but only in court on the day of the
hearing. With respect to the Minister,
this is conveyor belt legal aid. Family
law cases involve sensitive and
complex issues. No solicitor could
properly understand the facts of a
broken marriage, including the needs
of the children, the needs of the
spouses, and advise on the best long-
term options for his client, from a
short interview a few minutes prior to
a court hearing, with five or more
other clients also waiting for
consultations.
The Government must face up to its
responsibility to provide a
comprehensive scheme of Civil Legal
Aid and Advice. If the Government
wishes private practitioners to
participate in the Scheme - and, in
principle, this is the right approach -
it must be on the basis of a Scheme
that is properly thought out and one
that offers fair fees to solicitors for
the work involved.
People who have to avail of civil
legal aid are entitled to the same
standard and quality of service and
expertise as a private client; indeed,
no solicitor would consider giving a
less than first class service to a legal
aid client. However, solicitors cannot
be expected to subsidise the Civil
Legal Aid Scheme and thus a fair
level of fees must be agreed. In
addition, it is clear that the scope of
the pilot scheme, and indeed, any
longer-term involvement by private
practitioners in the Scheme of Civil
Legal Aid, needs further
consideration.
•
NORTHERN IRELAND
AGENT
* Legal work undertaken on an agency basis
* All communications to clients through
instructing Solicitors
* Consultants in Dublin if required
Contact:
Seamus Connolly,
Moran and Ryan,
Solicitors
Arran House,
Bank Building,
35 Amn Quay,
Hill Street,
Dublin 7.
Ncwry, Co. Down.
Tel:(01) 8725622
Tel: (080693) 65311
Fax: (01) 8725404
Fax: (080693) 62096
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