Flat fee to remain as Jim O’Callaghan announces changes to legal aid scheme

Flat fee of €520 for district court criminal legal aid cases 'will remain in place' but payment of flat fee would be 'split' so that two-thirds of it would be paid at the start of a case and the remaining third at the end of the case or 12 months after the case starts, whichever is first

Jim O'Callaghan: Any criminal legal aid solicitor who has resigned from the panel but now wants to be reinstated arising from the above clarification will be able to do so without delay. File picture: Niall Carson/PA

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has announced changes to the new legal aid scheme that has prompted solicitor strikes, but said the flat fee “will remain”.

The Law Society of Ireland said criminal law solicitors would consider the correspondence from the minister.

On July 1, Mr O’Callaghan implemented a flat fee of €520 for criminal legal aid in the district court, rather than per-appearance fees, prompting anger and withdrawal of services among solicitors practising in the area.

Previously, solicitors were given €240 for the first appearance and €60 on subsequent appearances.

The €520 flat fee is equivalent to five appearances under the old system — which Mr O’Callaghan argues is the average amount of appearances for criminal legal aid cases — plus an 8% increase in fees which was given to all criminal lawyers this year.

Solicitors have been withdrawing their services from criminal cases where a person does not have the means to pay for a lawyer and requires legal aid.

This has resulted in criminal cases being delayed, which support groups have said is having an impact on survivors and victims.

Mr O’Callaghan met with the Law Society on Monday to hear about issues practitioners had with changes to the legal aid scheme.

On Tuesday, he said the flat fee of €520 for district court criminal legal aid cases “will remain in place”.

However, he said the payment of the flat fee would be “split” so that two-thirds of it would be paid at the start of a case and the remaining third would be paid at the end of the case, or after 12 months after the case starts, whichever is first.

The Department of Justice said this had no cost implications for the criminal legal aid scheme.

The minister also confirmed the criminal legal aid scheme allows for a new certificate to be issued for an accused person where the charges are “distinct and separate” to any court appearance by them previously.

“The minister has asked his officials to keep an ongoing review of the operation of the new district court scheme in the children’s court and for cases where over 20 appearances are required over the coming six months to inform any changes that may be required within these limited circumstances,” the Department of Justice said in a statement.

“Finally, the minister confirmed that any criminal legal aid solicitor who has resigned from the panel but now wants to be reinstated arising from the above clarification will be able to do so without delay by requesting same from the court service.

“The minister is committed to improving the efficiencies for court users, legal practitioners and the Irish public.

“The new district court criminal legal aid scheme will allow for those efficiencies.” The Law Society of Ireland, a body representing solicitors in Ireland, said it would consider the proposals.

“The Law Society received correspondence from the Minister for Justice this afternoon which has been circulated to criminal law solicitors,” said president Rosemarie Loftus.

“The chair of the criminal law committee will be calling a meeting of practitioners to discuss the contents.

“The Law Society is seeking clarification from the Department of Justice on a number of matters in advance of that meeting.”