Legal Aid Fees Dispute: “It’s a farce.”

More on the ongoing legal aid fees dispute.  UTV reports that just 18 out of 500 law firms in Northern Ireland have said they are willing to work under the disputed new pay rates. A Department of Justice spokesman said: “Copies of the list of firms willing to undertake criminal legal aid work is available to all defendants seeking legal representation from court offices. “Copies of the list have also been provided to the Prison Service for clients on remand without …

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The Legal Aid Problem – it isn’t going away you know..

In this mornings paper copy of the Belfast Telegraph [sorry not on the interweb at time of writing] Deborah McAleese writes, “A high profile solicitor [DG Bell] who broke ranks in the legal aid dispute has dramatically withdrawn his offer to work for reduced fees amid allegations of bullying in the increasingly bitter battle between lawyers and the Justice Minister. It is understood that the firms owner took the decision after being subjected to hostility in court from other solicitors”. …

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Legal Aid Fees Dispute: “necessary to go outside Northern Ireland to bring in other lawyers”?

As the BBC reports, Northern Ireland Justice Minister, Alliance Party leader, David Ford, has detailed the number of cases where solictors have come “off record” to date in the dispute over legal aid fees [134 between 13 April and 27 May].  Although the Minister adds that It is not the court practice to record the reason given by a solicitor for coming off record so it is not possible to state categorically that all of these cases represent the outcome of a …

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Legal Aid Fees Dispute: “we cannot guarantee that they receive a fair trial”

Over 140 defendants in criminal cases are now reported to be without legal representation in the ongoing legal aid fees dispute.  From the BBC report Solicitors have refused to take on more than three quarters of criminal legal aid cases due to start in NI during the past six weeks. More than 140 defendants have been left without legal representation because of the protest over lower legal fees. “We don’t want to be on strike. We don’t want to be withdrawing …

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Legal Aid Fees Dispute: “the Law Society takes the view that this matter should receive early and urgent priority”

As the BBC report, the President of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, Brian Speers, has called on the NI Justice Minister to make the resolution of the legal aid fees dispute  “the day one priority for the minister when the assembly is reconvened.”  The report also notes The Northern Ireland Court Service confirmed that 36 solicitors’ firms in Northern Ireland have stopped work on 60 cases in the past three weeks. And from the UTV report Mr Speers added: “The Minister needs …

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Legal Aid Fees Dispute: “The reality is this is happening across the north”

The dispute between the Northern Ireland Justice Minister, David Ford, and solicitors over cuts to legal aid fees in Crown Court Proceedings seems to be intensifying. The Belfast Telegraph reports Pearse MacDermott, from the [Solicitors Criminal Bar Association (SCBA)], said: “Recent action has been taken as it is felt that the rates of remuneration introduced will jeopardise access to justice, particularly in more complicated and serious criminal cases.” Cases can spend months being heard in magistrates’ courts before they are passed to …

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