The Law Society has urged Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to meet its representatives “in person” with a view to resolving the dispute over a new legal aid payment model for the District Courts.
As criminal defence solicitors escalated their four-month withdrawal of services from Monday to include virtually all cases, including custody cases, O’Callaghan sent a letter to the society offering a meeting.
In a letter to the Law Society’s president, Rosemarie Loftus, O’Callaghan said he had instructed his officials to “organise a meeting in the coming days to hear your viewpoint and specific concerns”.
The dispute is over a €520 “one flat fee” payment model for legal aid work in the District Courts, irrespective of the number of court appearances or separate prosecutions involving a client. The old model provided for €240 for a first appearance and €60 for each subsequent appearance.
The Minister says the new scheme will effect necessary reform, reduce the number of adjournments of cases and address “abuses” of the system under the old scheme, particularly regarding the number of multiple legal aid certificates sought by some solicitors.
Solicitors say the model means they will not be paid for the work they do in complex cases, including involving children, people with addiction and mental health issues and regarding clients facing separate prosecutions.
A withdrawal of services by many criminal defence solicitors, under way since the new model came into operation on July 1st, has caused considerable disruption of the work of the criminal courts across all court divisions and the adjournment of thousands of cases.
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In a letter on Wednesday responding to the Minister’s offer of a meeting, Loftus said the society believes the meeting “should take place without further delay and trust it will address the substance of this dispute and support a meaningful resolution of the matter”.
She said the impasse is having “a real and significant impact” on the administration of justice, noted the High Court had urged the parties to resolve it and the Chief Justice has said the continuation of the dispute is a matter of concern to him and judges generally.
Loftus said the society has been calling for years for criminal legal aid reform and has publicly expressed support for reform and in engagement with the Minister and his officials.
“Our concern has never been with reform but with ensuring any new model is practical, evidence-based and capable of protecting the constitutional rights of accused people, while remaining sustainable for those who provide publicly funded legal representation.”
The society previously set out two core issues, the addressing of which would, it believed, resolve the criminal defence solicitors’ key concerns, she said. Those concern ensuring payment for defence work in more complex cases and ones involving clients facing separate prosecutions.
In concluding her letter, Loftus asked that the Minister “attend in person” and the society would make itself available “at any time”.