“The Minister for Justice wrote to the Law Society yesterday evening and confirmed that he intends to press ahead on 1 July with a flat fee, regardless of the serious concerns the legal profession has raised.

“The details were conveyed to hundreds of criminal law solicitors who attended a meeting convened by the Criminal Law Committee yesterday, on June 29.

“It is our understanding that solicitors from across the country are resigning from criminal legal aid panels. This will have a devastating impact on access to justice.

“The people who will pay the price are victims of crime, who will see trials delayed, as well as some of the most vulnerable in society. They are children in trouble for the first time. They are people struggling with addiction or serious mental health conditions. They are people who are homeless, victims of trafficking, and people in acute crisis.

“It is astounding that the Department of Justice has failed to create exemptions for particularly vulnerable groups – and categories of cases where the length of proceedings is known to be considerably longer. This includes cases involving children, where the court exercises a more supervisory, rehabilitative type role. And it includes involving people with mental health or capacity issues, where fitness to plead issues can arise. These cases almost always require additional time, additional appearances and patient, repeated engagement with a solicitor - none of which is factored into this proposal.

“Contrary to the narrative from the Department of Justice, this is a cost-cutting exercise dressed up as reform. It is based on flawed assumptions from the Department of Justice. Department of Justice officials have acknowledged the Scheme will need to be revised in the autumn. Conceding that the Scheme will require revision is a clear admission that it has been pushed out before the basic groundwork was done. It is not evidence-based policymaking - it is the reverse.

“Solicitors are angry over the way this has been mishandled by the Department of Justice. It is entirely misleading to claim that there has been extensive and constructive engagement with the Law Society. The Law Society received an email from the Department of Justice in February and was invited to make a submission by 20 March. “This was the first time a flat fee was proposed. Later that same day, a press statement was published announcing the decision to introduce a flat fee.

“The Law Society's position is unchanged and clear: any reform of criminal legal aid should be workable, fair and evidence based. This proposal is none of those things and the fundamental concerns the Law Society has outlined have not been addressed.”