Solicitors to continue industrial action while engaging with justice minister

A solicitor has warned that while they continue to engage with the Minister for Justice, the industrial action will also continue in the dispute over the introduction of a flat fee payment for criminal legal aid cases.

A solicitor has warned that while they continue to engage with the Minister for Justice, the industrial action will also continue in the dispute over the introduction of a flat fee payment for criminal legal aid cases.

A “clear invitation” had been extended to the minister to have “real and meaningful discussion” about the proposals the minister wants to implement.

That's according to solicitor Michael Finucane, who told Newstalk Breakfast with Anton Savage: "We will work with him and his department to find a solution that actually addresses the requirements of the criminal justice system. Maybe that hasn't happened yet, but we're willing to keep talking.” 

The dispute, which has resulted in work stoppages in the criminal courts as solicitors opposed the new system, arose over the introduction of a flat fee payment at the beginning of this month.

Mr O’Callaghan is sticking with the flat fee payment of €520 for criminal legal aid cases but, in a bid to break the deadlock, has agreed to pay two-thirds of the fee at the start of a case and the remaining one-third at the conclusion of the case or 12 months later, whichever comes first.

Mr Finucane said that the minister’s “modified” offer was “obviously unsustainable”, and that he has not changed his stance regarding the concerns raised by solicitors and raised by the Law Society.

He acknowledged that the minister’s proposal of a split payment did have a benefit in terms of cash flow, but the problem was that solicitors were being asked “to take on an unknown job of work for an unknown length of time for the same amount of money".

“And you're also being asked to take on several cases in some instances for the same amount of money. 

“And a person appearing in court facing several different charges on day one is effectively facing a dilution of the resources that are being made available to them. 

“Whereas a person who faces charges incrementally on days two or three or whatever, they will have their resources multiplied because under the minister's scheme, new resources can be applied for through new legal aid inserts on subsequent days provided those are the first days that the charges appear.

“So even within its own terms, the system doesn't make sense," he said.

Mr Finucane pointed out that solicitors could be faced with multiple different cases from different incidents on different dates, “but because they happen to arrive on the same day, you get one fee".

The reality was that a legal aid system that was designed under a statute enacted in 1965 bears no resemblance to the reality of modern criminal defence practice, he said.

It was unfair, Mr Finucane said, that solicitors who were objecting to the proposals were starting to face criticism from the judiciary.

“They start facing threats to be reported to the legal services regulatory authority. We are shoehorned into these cases and there is a refusal to let us walk away or come out of it. Or, it would appear, express dissatisfaction with the system that we're expected to work on.” 

The solicitor added that the action of solicitors had been a last resort. 

“Let's not forget that before the minister announced that he was introducing this new scheme, there was a functioning criminal justice system in which solicitors were participating.

“This is the straw that has broken the camel's back. Because people have been working in a system that is inefficient, underpaid, under-resourced and badly in need of reform.

“The minister brought in a system that said, I expect you to work indefinitely for the lowest amount of money I can get away with," he said.