Bacik calls for Minister to intervene on Criminal Legal Aid
Bacik calls for Minister to intervene on Criminal Legal Aid - The Labour Party
Speaking today as more criminal cases face delays and adjournments due to the absence of solicitors, and as more solicitors resign from the criminal legal aid panel, Ivana Bacik TD has called on Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to intervene directly and engage with the Law Society to resolve the ongoing dispute over the Minister’s changes to criminal legal aid.
Deputy Bacik said:
“I and my Labour colleagues share the concerns about the Minister’s proposed change to the payment scheme that have been expressed by many, including the ICCL, which has pointed out that the Minister’s reform ‘fails to account for the manner in which the law is practiced in the District Court and the complex needs of those in receipt of legal aid.’
“We are keen to see the issues resolved swiftly, and indeed my Labour colleague Ciaran Ahern TD raised this directly with the Tanaiste in the Dail last Thursday, when he argued that the Minister ‘is in the process of critically undermining our system of criminal justice.’
“The Minister has introduced a new fee structure for District Court criminal legal aid without proper engagement or consultation with the practitioners involved, and now criminal prosecutions are being put at risk.
“We are concerned also at the lack of a clear evidence basis for the Minister’s changes. The Labour Party is now calling for the data behind the Minister’s decision to be released, and for the Minister to consider pausing this change in the system until new data on the reasons for adjournments, currently being collected by the Courts Service, is available.
“The Minister needs to engage urgently in dialogue with the solicitors’ representative body, the Law Society, so that a resolution to the dispute can be found swiftly before any more damage is done to the conduct of criminal proceedings in our justice system.”