Legal Aid

Criminal legal aid fees will be boosted by 10 per cent early next year, justice minister Helen McEntee announced following the unveiling of Budget 2024. Over €3.27 billion in current expenditure and €274 million for capital projects has been allocated to the justice sector in the budget pr

An additional €172 million has been allocated to the justice sector in Budget 2024 — but it is not immediately clear whether criminal legal aid fees will be increased. Neither finance minister Michael McGrath nor public expenditure, NDP delivery and reform minister Paschal Donohoe referre

The Bar of Ireland has shared photos of barristers gathering in front of courthouses across the State as part of today's withdrawal of criminal legal aid services. You can find more pictures on Twitter by looking up the #FairIsFair hashtag.

The new legal year has started with a bang. Just three short months after Helen McEntee said she didn't like to see barristers "protesting on the steps of the Criminal Courts of Justice", there are barristers on the steps of courthouses across the length and breadth of the State as they take part in

Northern Ireland's legal professions have given a cautious welcome to a new fundamental review of criminal legal aid led by retired judge Tom Burgess. The Department of Justice yesterday confirmed that the review, led by Judge Burgess as its independent advisor, has commenced and will be completed w

Criminal barristers the length and breadth of the State are set to withdraw services on the first full day of the new legal year next week, with final arrangements now being put in place by the Council of The Bar of Ireland. The withdrawal of professional services by criminal barristers takes place

The Dublin Solicitors Bar Association (DSBA) criminal law committee has published practical guidance for solicitors ahead of the one-day barristers' strike next week. The committee acknowledges "the support solicitors may wish to extend to their barrister colleagues" and provides "advice which may b

Legal rights charity FLAC has said it "unequivocally supports" next week's one-day strike by criminal barristers. The Bar Council has called on criminal barristers to withdraw services on 3 October 2023 to pile pressure on government ministers over fee restoration, with fees remaining below 2002 lev

The Mayo Solicitors' Bar Association (MSBA) has issued a statement in support of the Bar Council's withdrawal of criminal legal aid services next week. The Bar Council has called on criminal barristers to withdraw services for one day on 3 October 2023 in a major escalation of its campaign for fee r

In a statement published below in full, the Council of the Law Society of Ireland calls on government ministers to accept the "irrefutable" case for restoration of criminal legal aid fees in the 2024 budget. The failure by successive governments to adequately invest in the criminal justice system is

The Parole Board's legal aid scheme provided legal representation to 38 applicants and 28 victims in the first year-and-a-half of its operation, new figures show. The statutory Parole Board today published its first annual report, covering the period from 31 July 2021 — when the Parole Ac

Legal aid should be provided in all domestic violence and child care cases before the family courts, regardless of income, a judge has suggested. In comments reported by The Irish Times, Judge John Campbell, of Dublin District Court, told a conference on domestic violence and child protection that t

Defendants who lie about their financial circumstances to obtain legal aid could face up to six months' imprisonment under sweeping reforms to the administration of the criminal legal aid scheme. The Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Bill 2023 will transfer administrative responsibility for the scheme fr

Chief Justice Donal O'Donnell compared the provision of civil legal aid in the State to the provision of healthcare before the major reforms of the 1970s as he launched a new report on access to justice today. A 90-page report of the speeches delivered and issues explored during the two-day conferen

It was never supposed to come to this. The Bar Council's historic decision to call for strike action over fee restoration is undoubtedly a dramatic development — and one that Irish Legal News believes is entirely justified. Successive governments have had long enough to rectify an abysmal situ