Criminal assets - Time to stop free legal aid for the rich

ONE of the maddening aspects of Ireland’s legal system is the sight of notorious gangland criminals, thugs who clearly have significant assets, being granted free legal aid by the courts.

Arguably, in the majority of cases, access to free legal aid is justified for those accused of serious crimes who cannot afford representation. But there is something seriously askew with a state system that enables infamous criminals to get away without paying legal fees when they are visibly flaunting the trappings of wealth, living in expensive houses, driving around in big cars, and taking frequent holidays abroad.

At the other end of the scale, a district court judge has criticised parents who are prepared to pay “handsome and princely sums” to secure bail for their children but are not prepared to pay legal fees. As Judge John Neilan put it “there is something radically wrong when parents can put €500 on the table for bail” but allow their children to avail of free legal aid.

Figures obtained by the Irish Examiner show that solicitors and barristers assigned to defendants under the criminal legal aid scheme were paid over €53 million in the first 11 months of 2008. This sets a new record in the inexorably spiralling cost of the scheme to the taxpayer. During the past year, legal aid was provided for people accused of murder, rape, assault, possession of drugs, arson and other charges.

According to the latest figures, 765 solicitors received €33.3m for providing defendants with free legal aid between January and November 2008. This compares with €27.6m to 686 solicitors in 2007.

Similarly, payments to barristers have also risen, with 544 receiving €19.6m under the scheme last year, compared with 486 receiving €17.1m in 2007.

In the long-running public debate on free legal aid, we risk losing sight of the fact that the system, introduced in 1962, has been an essential service for those in genuine financial difficulty. Broadly speaking, most members of the legal profession regard it as a public service rather than a business.

Clearly, the system can be open to flagrant abuse if it is freely accessible to criminals who can afford to pay legal fees. This lends weight to the call by Fine Gael justice spokesman Charlie Flanagan for strict new rules to be imposed on the criminal legal aid scheme.

At any time, and especially in these times of extreme financial difficulty, the taxpayer should not be expected to underwrite the legal costs of people who have amassed wealth through crime.

There is a compelling case for the Government to act on the proposal that the Criminal Assets Bureau be given new powers to reclaim moneys if it can be proven retrospectively that someone had the means to defend themselves but withheld the information.

As for parents who have money to bail their children but not for legal aid, “somebody’s going to have to call a halt”, to quote Judge Neilan. His comments take on greater relevance when crime bosses with millions stashed in hidden accounts are given access to free legal aid. It is time to shout stop.