Court's out: no solicitors in Longford District Court as work stoppage continues
The solicitors’ strike, which began when solicitors withdrew their free legal aid services on June 15, has escalated into a three-day nationwide work stoppage, with today, July 28, marking the second day of the action.
As Judge Ciarán Liddy worked his way through the list of matters in Longford District Court today, the response to each one by Court Presenter, Sergeant Mark Mahon, was almost always the same: “I’ll need to adjourn that, please, Judge.”
Behind him, the pews reserved for solicitors and barristers remained empty except for the court probation officer.
The absence of legal practitioners at today’s sitting was due to the legal strike that has been taking place since mid-June in protest of Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan’s changes to the free legal aid system.
While solicitors around Ireland have withdrawn from providing free legal aid services since June 15, the ongoing dispute recently culminated in the announcement of a planned three-day nationwide work stoppage. Today marked the second day of that action.
With the Courts Service and the Dáil now on summer break for the month August, the dispute is set to roll on into September if a compromise is not reached in the interim.
Few outside the legal profession, however, fully understand the reasons behind the strike.
In simple terms, Minister Jim O’Callaghan introduced a new system on July 1, under which legal aid solicitors would receive a fee of €520 per client, regardless of how many court appearances were required.
The old system saw a payment of €240 for the first hearing and an additional €60 for each adjourned hearing. Solicitors, however, have raised several concerns about the changes, including how payment is allocated. The solicitor who prepares the case, represents their client at multiple hearings may not be paid for their work if in the event the client opts to use a different practitioner or firm, which can often happen.
Another issue highlighted is that where a client has multiple matters before the court, payment is not made until all are finalised. Solicitors argue this could leave a practitioner who has carried out significant work on a case waiting an unreasonable length of time for their payment.
The reason behind Minister O’Callaghan’s decision to introduce the changes is his belief that the previous system created a payment structure that “encouraged adjournments”, as payments were linked to court appearances.
Solicitors, however, argue that adjournments are often outside of their control. They say that while some cases, such as minor road traffic offences, can usually be dealt with swiftly, more complex cases may require several court appearances.
They also argue that adjournments can occur for a variety of reasons caused by external factors. These can include Gardaí not having a file in court, a medical report being requested, a defendant failing to appear, directions being awaited from the DPP, a probation report being requested, etc.
Another reason behind Minister O’Callaghan’s changes is a case in Carlow, where a solicitor representing a brothelkeeper up on 63 charges, received approximately €14,000 in legal aid fees after being granted 63 separated legal aid certs.
The payment made under provisions of Regulation 7(4), which deals with situations where multiple certificates apply to the same accused person.
Solicitors argue that such cases are very much the exception rather than the norm. They say that a defendant facing multiple charges does not automatically result in separate payments for each charge.
While Regulation 7(4) deals with situations where multiple legal aid certificates are sought for the same accused person, solicitors have pointed out that multiple certificates are not automatically granted and require a direction from the court.
For more, catch our two-page feature on the legal aid dispute in the latest Longford Leader, out tomorrow, Wednesday July 29