Courts at a 'standstill' as criminal legal aid dispute disrupts hearings

More than 25 bench warrants were issued by a single judge in less than two hours as a dispute over criminal legal aid fees pushed Dublin’s courts toward what one solicitor called “a standstill.” The disruption followed defence lawyers’ withdrawal of services under the legal aid scheme.

Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan has defended reforms to the fee structure and said last week that the criminal courts were running “effectively.” Solicitors involved in the strike rejected that assessment after a large number of defendants failed to attend hearings on Friday and other cases were postponed for months because they were too serious to proceed without legal representation.

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effectively

The effects appeared in different forms across Dublin District Court, which sat in four rooms on the ground floor of the Criminal Courts of Justice. One solicitor chose to work for free, while books of evidence were not served even though they were ready. In Court 3, three quarters of listed defendants failed to appear, prompting the judge to issue bench warrants one after another.

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simply nonsense

The absences may have had several causes, but solicitors said they illustrated the consequences of the service withdrawal. Many people who depend on legal aid face addiction, homelessness or mental health problems. Lawyers said clients can miss court dates when their legal representatives are not there to remind them.

One unrepresented man told a judge that his “life was in chaos” and that he had “been through hell and back,” while describing his childhood in care and links to addiction services. Solicitor Kate McGhee told the Press Association that people facing serious charges should not be left without legal advice. She said lawyers were also filling gaps in inadequate mental health and homelessness services, effectively acting as social workers for people living “extremely vulnerable” and chaotic lives.

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It is at a standstill. There’s no other way of describing it.

McGhee said the minister’s claim that the courts were operating normally was “nothing short of laughable” and “simply a lie.” In another courtroom, a woman already in custody was represented under older legal-aid certificates, but the judge questioned whether her hearing could continue if legal aid could not cover new charges.

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my life was in chaos