Judge refuses to take criminal proceeds into account in legal aid application
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A judge in Dublin Circuit Criminal Court has ruled that alleged proceeds of crime should not be considered while assessing a man’s application for legal aid.
Judge Melanie Greally said she shared gardaí suspicions that a man accused of drugs and firearm offences had income from crime, but that she could not take this into account in his legal aid application.
The Irish Independent reports that she decided the court could only look to the man’s legal assets, acquired in a legal manner, when assessing his capacity to fund his own defence.
Legal sources told Irish Legal News that the ruling is unlikely to set a precedent as decisions on criminal legal aid applications are made at the discretion of the judge.
However, the ruling could be “persuasive” when other judges are considering the same issue.
It is expected that decisions over criminal legal aid applications will eventually be transferred from judges to the Legal Aid Board, but there is no clear timescale for this to take place.
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