no end in sight
O’Callaghan has refused the latest request to meet with the president of the Law Society.
THE DISPUTE BETWEEN criminal legal aid solicitors and Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan shows no sign of abating, with further disruption to the courts expected from today as solicitors escalate their strike.
The disagreement over the introduction of a flat fee model for criminal legal aid solicitors has led to thousands of criminal cases being adjourned since mid-June of this year.
From today, striking solicitors across the country have withdrawn from all work in a major escalation in the dispute.
Solicitors wrote to the presidents of the courts late last week to inform them that they would be withdrawing all criminal defence services, including custody cases and cases involving children, from today.
The escalation comes after the president of the Law Society, the representative body for solicitors, wrote to the minister for justice on 13 October seeking a meeting.
The request for a meeting with the justice minister has so far been denied.
In a statement today, a spokesperson for O’Callaghan noted that under the new fee model, a solicitor earns €520 when a case concludes with one court appearance, compared with €240 under the old model.
They further noted that since 1 July, 75% of cases concluded under the new system have been dealt with in one court appearance.
The spokesperson said it is “unnecessary and regrettable that some solicitors are choosing to withdraw their services”.
Reacting to the escalation, Social Democrats justice spokesperson Gary Gannon called on the Taoiseach to intervene in the dispute.
Gannon said O’Callaghan’s approach to date has been “a complete disaster and has put our criminal justice system on the verge of collapse”.
“Thousands of cases have been adjourned since he pushed through his changes to the free legal aid payment system in July, adding to existing backlogs in our courts.
“In refusing to engage with solicitors, the minister is needlessly hiding behind the delayed outcome of a judicial review into the new payment scheme, despite a High Court judge in that case urging the parties to try to resolve the issues themselves,” he said.
O’Callaghan has refused the Law Society’s proposal of mediation, saying he is “not convinced as to its appropriateness” where the law is in question.
He said that he would “respectfully suggest” that such disputes are “best left” to the courts to resolve.
The Department of Justice has noted that 150 solicitors across the country are working under the new system.
There were 885 solicitors on the criminal legal aid panel when the changes came into force on 1 July.
Last week, there was widespread criticism after a woman was cross-examined by the man alleged to have threatened to kill and rape her because he was unable to secure legal representation as a result of the criminal legal aid solicitors’ strike.