Circuit Court in Leitrim disrupted as dispute between solicitors and the Minister of Justice continues

By Nathan Molloy, The Sligo Champion

The ongoing dispute over changes to the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme has caused disruption to the Circuit Court sitting in Carrick-on-Shannon. where over 30 cases were adjourned because barristers had not received instructions from solicitors.

Solicitors told Judge John Alymer that due to the changes to the legal aid scheme, they were withdrawing their services.

Appearing for the prosecution, Mr Edmund Sweetman BL asked Judge Alymer if he could adjourn the sitting until next week in the hope that progress can be made on the issue.

When asked by Judge Alymer on what hope he was talking about, Mr Sweetman replied that “hope springs eternal”, and that he hoped for significant progress to be made by next Tuesday.

Judge Alymer remarked that the dispute had been going on for quite some time, and that Mr Sweetman’s hope had no relevant basis.

He then proceeded to adjourn 37 criminal cases to October 13. Of the 37 cases, seven were ready to proceed for trial and a jury panel was dismissed as a result.

Addressing the panel, Judge Alymer told them that they might have read in the newspapers that there was a dispute between legal practitioners and the Minister of Justice related to changes of the legal aid scheme, and that solicitors were withdrawing their services in protest. He added that courts could not function without jurors and that he was grateful for their attendance.

Judge Alymer told the jury panel that he regrets that there were no means of compensation for them and that they were free to go.

The dispute centres on changes to the legal aid scheme that came into effect on July 1. The changes meant that solicitors under the scheme would get paid a flat fee of €520 per client.

Before the changes, solicitors were paid per court appearance, starting at €239.38 and €59.86 for each subsequent appearance.

The flat fee was originally €455, but was increased by the Minister of Justice Jim O’Callaghan on June 30. In a letter to the Law Society of Ireland, the minister said that under this system, solicitors would receive the same amount as for five court appearances under the old system.

President of the Law Society of Ireland, Ms Rosemarie Loftus described the reforms as a “cost-cutting exercise dressed up as reform” arguing that they were based off flawed assumptions rather than evidence. She also warned that the new fee would create legal deserts in Ireland.

Article funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.