‘Resources key to civil legal-aid reform’
The Law Society has told the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration that the civil legal-aid system is “in crisis” and needs immediate reform.
Keith Walsh SC (Law Society Family and Child Law Committee) told the committee that the required reform cannot happen without proper resourcing and restructuring of the system – including the Legal Aid Board.
Appearing at the committee with Law Society Director of Policy Brian Hunt, Walsh said that the Legal Aid Board should be allowed to lead the reforms, adding that it should be supported and resourced properly to do this.
Watch Keith Walsh outlining the key elements of the Law Society's submission ahead of the hearing.
New bodies ‘unnecessary’
The SC said that the Law Society believed that the proposed creation of two new bodies – a Legal Aid Oversight Body and an Implementation Group – backed by a majority report on the system last year was “unnecessary” and would divert resources from the Legal Aid Board.
Describing civil legal aid as “a cornerstone of the Irish justice system”, Walsh told the committee that it was not funded “anywhere near the level that it should be”.
He outlined seven recommendations made by the Law Society in its submission to the committee:
1) Immediate Government funding for the legal-aid system, with a commitment for longer-term increased funding to cope with existing demands, as well as its expanding remit into areas such as the introduction of civil-restraint orders and the implementation of the EU Migration and Asylum Pact,
2) Revise the financial eligibility thresholds for legal-aid applicants, which is currently set at €18,000,
3) Adequately resource the Legal Aid Board and ensure that it can take steps to continue to attract solicitors,
4) Provide adequate funding for expert reports (particularly ‘voice of the child’ reports) under civil legal aid,
5) Empower the Legal Aid Board as the appropriate body to devise and deliver reform,
6) Establish and resource the Mediation Council of Ireland under the Mediation Act 2017 and seek to foster a far greater use of mediation, as well as other alternatives to court, and
7) While the proposed removal of the blanket ban on legal aid for quasi-judicial cases is welcome, Government should also reconsider the list of exceptions to legal aid (termed ‘designated matters’) in the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 to see if they are still fit for purpose in a reformed system.
Representatives from the Bar of Ireland, FLAC, the Legal Aid Board, and Women’s Aid also appeared before the committee.
Call for LAB capacity review
Speaking after the hearing, committee chair Matt Carthy TD (Sinn Féin) said that it had heard “dire warnings” that the civil legal-aid system could collapse as a result of the pressures that will be put on it because of the requirements of the International Protection Bill.
He said that the review of civil legal aid published last summer had been on the minister’s desk for a number of months.
“There were hopes that some action would follow the publication of this report, but nothing has happened and there is absolutely no sense of urgency from Government,” Deputy Carthy stated.
The committee heard calls for the Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to act on a call in the majority report for an immediate review of the Legal Aid Board’s capacity to administer the current Civil Legal Aid Scheme.
“This is something that I called for when the review was published in July but the minister has failed to take any action,” the committee chair said, describing civil legal aid as “fundamental to access to justice”.