A SOLICITOR in West Cork has made comments about the poor reimbursement lawyers receive under the free legal aid scheme.
The scheme was established to ensure that all citizens would have recourse to justice and could defend themselves in a court of law, regardless of their financial circumstances.
This means that every citizen has, in theory, the same access to justice, and it is not just the preserve of the wealthy – thereby ensuring an equal footing for all.
It is a hallmark of a democratic society that not just those of means can mount a good defence in court.
But retiring solicitor Tony Greenway’s comments this week would appear to put that access to justice at risk, if his predictions bear fruit.
On the day of his retirement, Mr Greenway said the financial reimbursement for solicitors who opt to work under the scheme does not always cover costs.
He implied that some solicitors may pull out of the scheme if the fees are not increased, thereby reducing the amount of lawyers available – meaning some members of the public may find it difficult to source a solicitor to represent them.
This, of course, would be disastrous for society and a backwards step for the justice system in this country.
There is no doubt that the Government has challenges when it comes to providing funding for the free legal aid service.
Figures released for the criminal legal aid scheme show that, in 2023, a total of €45.7m was paid to solicitors under the scheme, with a further €23.7m paid to junior barristers and €15.6m paid to senior barristers.
These figures represent an 18% increase on 2022. When it is broken down into payments to the professions, there was a 30% increase in payments to senior barristers and a 27% increase in payments to junior barristers.
The Department of Justice suggested that the increases may be due to the increasingly complex cases being heard, as well as the increase in actual cases.
If a case takes longer due to complexity, then the legal representatives are required to be in court for longer, or attend more times, hence the greater fees paid out.
But the Department quite rightly also noted that the courts need to be adequately resourced in order to administer justice for all.
The Department has also recently announced that it has plans to appoint over more than 20 new judges in the coming months. It is unsure whether more judges will expedite cases, resulting in reduced legal aid payments, or will instead mean more cases can be heard in any one year – possibly resulting in additional challenges on the free legal aid budget.
Either way, the solicitors are not happy with the emoluments currently being paid out for their time and efforts. And if too many solicitors opt to withdraw from the scheme, it could prove disastrous for the courts, resulting in longer waiting times and even have a knock-on effect on the complexity of cases – all of which will lead to further increases in annual payments under the scheme.
The wise option would appear to be a negotiation of improved fees for those professionals who have opted to give some, if not all, of their time to defending those who cannot afford the regular fees being charged by lawyers.
For the Government, it may be a case of short-term pain for long-term gain.
Let’s not forget Ukraine
THINGS are heating up in the Middle East. Lebanon is under siege and the conflict in Gaza shows no signs of abating either.
In February, it will be three years since Russia invaded Ukraine.
There was a time when the conflict in northern Europe was on our TV screens and in our national newspapers daily. These days, because of the shocking events unfolding much further south, the Ukrainian conflict gets only intermittent coverage.
There is a fear now that if we cannot keep the story to the forefront of the world’s political minds, the urgency of solving that war will fade even further into the background.
There is an election approaching. It is incumbent on all citizens to remind those who come knocking on our doors in the weeks ahead that if Russia succeeds in its aggressive foreign policy in Ukraine, many more European democracies could come under threat in the not-too-distant future.
