Committee examining domestic violence agency bill call for boost to legal aid in family law

The committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency Bill also called for more judges in the district courts

The committee recommends that the pay for solicitors under the scheme is increased in a bid to stop them from leaving family law for other private practice. File picture: iStock

The Government needs to bolster and expand the Civil Legal Aid Scheme to deal with delays in the family law courts, the Oireachtas Justice Committee has said.

The committee recommends that the pay for solicitors under the scheme is increased in a bid to stop them from leaving family law for other private practice. It also said more judges need to be appointed, particularly in the district courts.

They are among the recommendations of the committee’s pre-legislative scrutiny of the General Scheme of the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency Bill. The new agency is part of the third national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence and accompanying action plans, published in April 2022.

The agency, operating under the Department of Justice, will be responsible for steering “a whole of government approach” on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV). Its remit will include the delivery of support services for victims of DSGBV and the implementation of the Third National Strategy on DSGBV.

The committee said that the Civil Legal Aid Scheme “must be amended to address delays in the progression of family law cases” and to extend the reach of legal aid to marginalised communities and individuals in rural or underserved areas.

Witnesses to the committee’s hearings said there was a shortage of family lawyers, particularly in the district courts.

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“Witnesses highlighted that the ensuing delays in court cases progressing have both an emotional and financial toll on those affected by DSGBV,” the report said. Witnesses, from key voluntary agencies working in the area, said district courts outside of Dublin were “particularly overburdened”.

The committee recommended the renumeration of solicitors from the Legal Aid Board is increased “to ensure sufficient numbers of family law practitioners continue to practice”. It backed calls for more judges, particularly to the district courts.

Elsewhere, the report recommended that the new agency carry out a “national needs assessment” of the funding to local services supporting victims of DSGBV and that a coherent criteria for the allocation of funding be developed on the back of this.

The committee also recommended that boys and men be engaged to try and address the root causes of DSGBV and implement prevention mechanisms.