Legal Aid

Legal aid should be recognised as part of the welfare system and funded accordingly, the Bar of Northern Ireland has said. In its submission to Northern Ireland's budget consultation, the Bar says there is a "strong argument" for transferring the funding of legal aid to the category of "annually man

Northern Ireland's justice minister launched an extended attack on striking criminal barristers yesterday as she confirmed a backdated 16 per cent increase in legal aid fees would take effect in May. Speaking in the Assembly, Naomi Long said that the uplift would apply to civil, family and criminal

Criminal barristers in Northern Ireland are ending an all-out boycott of all legally aided Crown Court cases amid an ongoing dispute over legal aid. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said today that it will not extend the withdrawal of services which began at the start of January and was later exte

The barristers and solicitors who earned the most from the criminal legal aid scheme in 2024 have been named.

Proposals to increase criminal and civil legal aid fees in Northern Ireland by 16 per cent have been put out to consultation. The public consultation, which opened last week, will run until 27 March 2025 — and the proposed increase remains "subject to business case approval by the Department o

Northern Ireland's justice minister has said striking criminal barristers are not "suffering" and must be prepared to meet her halfway following an extension of their withdrawal of services. In a statement yesterday evening, Naomi Long said she was "hugely disappointed" that the Criminal Bar Associa

A strike by criminal barristers in Northern Ireland is to continue for another month after the Department of Justice was accused of failing to "engage meaningfully" with the Bar. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) began a boycott of legally aided Crown Court cases at the start of the year to pile pr

Northern Ireland’s High Court has granted a declaration to the Bar Council of Northern Ireland and the Law Society of Northern Ireland that the Department of Justice and Legal Services Agency are in contravention of their statutory duty to pay properly presented legal aid bills. Delivering jud

Every pound spent on legal aid in Northern Ireland creates £8.32 of social value, according to a groundbreaking new report from the Law Society of Northern Ireland. The 56-page report, The Social Value of Legal Aid, was launched on Monday in the Northern Ireland Assembly at an event which hear

Legal aid spending in Northern Ireland should be seen as an investment that lessens demand for other services including health and social care, the Bar of Northern Ireland has told MPs. The Bar has made a 15-page submission to Westminster's Northern Ireland affairs committee, which is currently cond

Ireland's new government has promised to "fully restore criminal legal aid fees" alongside reforms to the criminal legal aid system. The commitment, included in the draft programme for government agreed and published yesterday by Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael and independent TDs, does not set out a

A former UK Supreme Court president has said that parents who have to fight for access to their children without legal representation are being deprived of their human rights. Lord Neuberger, who was the UK's most senior judge from 2012 to 2017, told The Guardian that the removal of legal aid from f

Criminal barristers in Northern Ireland have begun a month-long boycott of legally aided Crown Court cases in an escalation of their campaign for fee increases. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) announced the boycott last month following disappointment over the Department of Justice's response

An eight per cent increase in criminal legal aid fees has come into effect with the beginning of the new year. The €9 million boost in funding was announced in the wake of an unprecedented withdrawal of services by criminal barristers over three days last summer.

Northern Ireland's criminal courts will grind to a halt in January after criminal barristers announced a significant escalation of their industrial action over legal aid fees. Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) are to withdraw from appearing in all legally aided Crown Court cases listed b