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ASPECTS OF LEGAL AID AND ADVICE
On December 14th, 1974, the Free Legal Advice
Centre held a Seminar in the Burlington Hotel. Its
Purpose was twofold. Firstly to acquaint those involved
|n the Irish law system with the problems encountered
to the English legal aid scheme and secondly to
generate discussion among interested parties on the
submission of the Free Legal Advice Centres to the
p
ringle Committee on Civil Legal Aid in the Republic
of Ireland.
To these ends three persons were invited to speak
from Britain; Mr. James Ritchie of Brent Community
Law Centre, Mr. David Offenbach and Mr. Clive
Morrick of the Legal Action Group. Mr. John Finlay,
toen chairman of FLAC was the last of the formal
speakers.
A wide range of persons and organisations were
represented at the Seminar not least being members
°f the Judiary and legal professions.
Mr. James Ritchie (Brent Community Law Centre)
opened the seminar with an outline of the role of his
law centre and the problems extant in the area of
operation. Brent he characterised as "inner city stress
area" with the attendant difficulties — bad housing,
unemployment, poor schooling, a large immigrant
Population and a general ignorance of legal rights
allied with little community organisation.
The law centre is sponsored by the local Authority
and has two lawyers presently employed. The first
toajor problem apparent was the landslide of practical
casework which militated against the delineation of a
rational and coherent policy.
Bearing this in mind liaison with local groups such
a s
Tenants Associations was established and such
groups encouraged to publicise widely the rights and
duties relevant thereto. The taking of test cases was
an important feature of the activity of the centre and
tois served to highlight the abuses of rights that exist in
a deprived area. Thus the community law Centre was
n
o t merely a "free solicitor" in an office, but a dynamic
organisation t o push forward and guarantee the rights
°f the particular area.
. In conclusion Mr. Ritchie pointed out that the par-
ticular wish of the Centre was to inform people of
toeir rights in order that they might be enforced. He
demised three ways in which this could be done:—
A) by advertising statutory and
voluntary
agencies of their legal right and duties
B)
by issuing leaflets and advice sheets to the
general public concerning their rights and
C)
by urging people to organise for the purpose
of gaining adequate recognition of their
rights and
Mr. David Offenbach in his speech concentrated
toainly upon the nature and defects of the English
Legal Aid System founded between 1946 and 1949.
His first criticism was that there still remained a
large area of unmet legal needs, particularly in the
tribunal area — an area which has gained a large
jurisdiction in the decisions affecting people and in
particular those areas covering the more impoverished
members of society.
The present system was also attacked for its
ludicrously complicated administartive structure. It
had had the effect of dissuading community groups
from pursuing test cases or group cases and had also
not radically altered the role, image and education of
solicitors. This he felt was anathema to the true
purpose of having a free legal aid system.
Despite efforts by the Law Society the defects of
the system were still manifold, undue delay being
one which discourage entitled persons from using the
system. The means tests and the contribution system
were also criticised for being unrealistic and harsh
in a time of high living costs and mounting inflation.
To remedy this Mr. Offenbach suggested a radical
rethink of the institutions at present involved and the
introduction of a more realistic and dynamic system.
The need for a new kind of Legal Education and
approach to the role of the lawyer in society was put
forward — an idea which itself is being debated at
present in the Republic.
Mr. Clive Morrick of the Legal Action Group con-
cluded the guest speakers with a resumé of the
Legal Action Group's function. Primarily this group
are a central agency for the dispersal of information
to practitioner and worker in the areas of law relevant
to deprived persons. The fields of Labour, Landlord
and Tenant, Social Welfare and Town and Country
Planning Law were all covered in their brochures. The
emergence of lawyers practising in the areas of
"poverty law" was therefore further encouraged by
general and easy access to clear and accurate reports
of law relevant to these fields.
Mr. John Finlay, the last formal speaker of the
seminar concluded by outlining the FLAC proposals
for a legal service system in Ireland.
Having described the need for a publicly financed
system of legal services he went on to mention the
extent of the needs. That statistics were not available
was clear, but FLAC had over 5 } years accumulated
a case load exceeding 8,000, a small figure in view
of the limited scope of FLAC's operation.
Aside from the more financial disability, Mr. Finlay
outlined several factors serving to dissuade people
from taking legal advice.
i) the geographical location of solicitors offices
and their office hours
ii) the ignorance of people that they may have
a legal right
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