'Resolution requires constructive engagement'
It is deeply disappointing that, despite months of intensive engagement with the Department of Justice, the principal concerns of criminal legal-aid solicitors about the new criminal legal-aid scheme remain unaddressed, writes Rosemarie Loftus.
The dispute is not about whether reform is needed. The Law Society and criminal legal-aid solicitors have been calling for reform of the scheme for many years.
The dispute concerns specific changes introduced by the Government on 1 July 2026, which solicitors believe do not properly reflect the work involved in representing legally aided clients and risk making the scheme unsustainable in practice.
In particular, solicitors have consistently raised two issues.
First, the new scheme can treat multiple separate and unrelated criminal prosecutions as a single case for payment purposes, even where each case requires its own preparation, evidence review, legal analysis, and court representation.
Second, the new scheme fails to adequately recognise complex and long-running cases, particularly those involving children, vulnerable individuals, people with mental-health difficulties, and defendants remanded in custody, where repeated court appearances are often required for reasons entirely outside the solicitor’s control.
Practical solutions
The profession’s response to these changes has been overwhelming and remarkably consistent.
Solicitors from across the country have provided detailed feedback to the Law Society, not simply identifying problems but proposing practical and proportionate solutions that would allow the Government’s reform programme to proceed, while addressing the most serious operational difficulties.
Those proposals were developed from the direct experience of practitioners working daily within the criminal-justice system and were presented to the department in a constructive effort to make reform workable.
Against that backdrop, and as we go to press, it is regrettable that the department and the minister have yet to act on the two key adjustments repeatedly sought by the profession, despite the clear evidence provided and the strong consensus among practising solicitors that these changes are necessary to ensure that the scheme remains fair, workable, and sustainable.
None of our colleagues sought to find themselves in this position. Criminal practitioners have immense respect for the courts, the judiciary, An Garda Síochána, and all those who work within our justice system.
However, they have been left with little alternative.
Failing to reflect realities
Solicitors cannot reasonably be expected to operate under a scheme that fails to reflect how criminal cases are conducted, particularly those involving children, people with mental-health difficulties, and other vulnerable individuals.
No solicitor wants to see a client left without representation, but neither can practitioners be expected to work within a framework that fails to reflect the realities of criminal practice.
If we support a model that we know is unworkable, the consequences will extend far beyond the profession.
We have seen the impact that an unsustainable legal-aid model has had in family law – we cannot allow the same issues to take root in criminal law.
At the time of writing, I am still awaiting a response to my letter of 31 July to the minister.
Nevertheless, the Law Society remains committed to constructive engagement and stands ready to work with the department to resolve these issues.
Our objective remains clear: to enable criminal legal-aid solicitors to return to work, while ensuring that every person has fair and equal access to justice – a right we are all committed to protecting.
Rosemarie Loftus is President of the Law Society.