Case Explained: Limerick solicitors slam minister’s plan to reform legal aid scheme – Legal Perspective

SOLICITORS in Limerick have expressed their strong disapproval of the Department of Justice’s proposed reform of the legal aid system.

Legal aid is funded by the tax-payer and the system ensures that no member of the public goes unrepresented in court because of the costs, unless they choose to do so.

As it currently stands, for each appearance before the district court for a legal aid case, a barrister or solicitor receives a flat-fee of €239.38 for a single accused person’s first appearance in court, with further payment of €59.86 for each appearance thereafter.

The Minister for Justice, Jim O’Callaghan, says an analysis of over 350,000 district court cases shows that adjournments are more common in cases where legal aid has been granted compared to cases involving private representation.

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The proposed reform has floated a not-yet-concrete flat fee of €455 for solicitors and barristers for each legal aid case – with no ‘top-up fee’ for subsequent appearances.

President of the Limerick Solicitors Bar Association, Darach McCarthy, warned: “With these reductions in legal aid, it’s quite possible that some people may not have legal representation in their cases going forward, and that’s very worrying.”

Mr McCarthy is a fixture of the Limerick District City Court, and has worked in criminal law for over 20 years.

He says that “people who use legal aid, quite a lot of them have done something wrong”, but often “a lot of them as well are people who are victims of crime in their own right”, and are “people who have been kicked”.

In Mr McCarthy’s line of work, he has found that those who avail of legal aid are “people who have mental health issues, addiction issues, abuse issues, their own trauma, issues from their youth. People who have been less fortunate in life”.

On the topic of potential abuse of the system, the solicitor stated: “There has been commentary from documentation from the Department of Justice implying that solicitors have been seeking an excessive amount of adjournments to maximise legal aid fees.

“I would defy anybody to go down to court and look at the reasons for which cases are being adjourned.”

He added: “It is primarily due to the lack of disclosure orders being complied with in good time, directions being obtained by the gardaí for cases in good time, books of evidence being furnished in cases in good time, and the results of forensic analysis being given to the accused and the court in good time.”

In more serious cases, disclosure orders are required so that the accused’s legal representation is aware of what evidence may be levelled against their client in a case.

These materials, which are furnished by the prosecution, can take several weeks, or in some instances over a month to be prepared before they are made available to defence solicitors in the district court.

Pádraig Langsch of Langsch & Cunnane Solicitors in Limerick says the proposed reform will cause the district court to experience similar problems to those he sees within the family courts system.

Within family law, Mr Langsch is aware of individuals forgoing legal representation “very often” due to being unable to find solicitors or barristers willing to take a flat-fee of legal aid, and not having the means to afford private representation.

People appearing before the courts without representation can often delay proceedings and their case can be less likely to have a good outcome.

“The most precious thing is your liberty,” Mr Langsch says, and the “key difference in the criminal court is that you can end up in jail”.

The solicitor believes that the proposed new system will be “a disaster on many fronts”.

For one, he believes those with a history of bench warrants will struggle to find representation due to the likelihood of there being more adjournments in their cases – which will not be compensated under the proposed new system.

Mr Langsch is keen to point out that those who “live a chaotic life”, such as homeless people, or those living with addiction, are more likely not to turn up in court – thus leading to increased adjournments, which will not be remunerated under the proposed new system.

The Irish Times recently published an article highlighting one firm in Dublin which was paid €14,000 in legal aid for a single district court case and another law firm which hosted a “crash-course” to teach barristers how to maximise legal aid fees.

When discussing the article, Mr Langsch responded: “Why don’t we have articles about a solicitor spending 20 hours on a case where he was paid €300? There are cases like that.”

Closing the interview, Mr Langsch added: “I think we are trying to survive in a system that is far from perfect.”

-Funded by the Court Reporting Scheme