Opinion: Criminal legal aid must be fair to defendants and taxpayers

I DON'T often agree with “solutions” put forward by government ministers to solve perceived overpayments for various schemes, but in the case where the justice minister has decided to scrap the old criminal free legal aid scheme, or whatever its exact title is called, and replace it with a new one, I have to give it the thumbs up.

Naturally, I accept that everyone in this country is entitled to a fair trial but it is that very word, entitled, that often gets me set on a rant. We hear it from people claiming all sorts of supports from the state, even though they have never worked a day in their lives or paid a penny in tax. We hear it from those who cause criminal damage but then think they shouldn’t be prosecuted because all they were doing was expressing their views in a democracy, which they were “entitled” to do. The list goes on and on.

I have sat in courtrooms for years where I have seen the same cohort of individuals take up an inordinate amount of time, get free legal aid and totally abuse the system just because they can. They show absolutely no respect for anyone or anyone’s property, think the whole judicial system is a joke and then want to be treated as if they are the ones being abused, while all the time laughing behind their backs at the rest of us.

On the other hand, I have seen first timers, those people who suddenly find themselves in trouble, at sixes and sevens when they appear in court, wondering where to turn or who should they reach out to for help.

There but for the grace of God go any of us when it comes to finding ourselves at the wrong side of the law. Many convicted of crimes of passion did not set out to cause injury, but they did. Many who caused death or injury because of driving while under the influence did not intent to harm anyone, but they did.

Many who have stolen from their employer, friend or neighbour, did not think they should do such a thing, but for one reason or another they did. Others didn’t believe they would launder money for criminals, but they did. These people do need assistance to navigate their way through our legal system and the first steps towards doing that are with competent solicitors who have spent years studying the law, understand it and also know how best to represent people in trouble.

They don’t take sides, pass judgement or work less hard on behalf of a client because they are on “free” legal aid. They deserve to be paid for their work but when you read of a case where one solicitor got paid €31,000 representing one client for one day in court, it is difficult to defend the old system.

I fully accept there will always be exceptions to the norm. We see lists of recipients of state funds all the time where there are a handful of individuals who receive mouth-watering amounts of money for doing their job, while the rest get normal rates, be it law, medicine, whatever.

But I have attended enough court sittings to know that an awful lot of time is taken up with dealing with adjourned cases. Again, I accept there are times when cases have to be adjourned but the system, be it at district court, circuit court or higher levels, is choked at the moment because of adjournments.

Your average criminal doesn’t care if he or she has to attend court on one or multiple occasions. More often than not they have nothing better to do with their time and some even regard it as a kind of day out.

You may laugh at that but talk to anyone who have good reason to attend court sittings all over the country and they will tell you the same. The mindset of habitual offenders is different from the rest of us. Some might say I am being biased, these people come from deprived backgrounds, have not received the same opportunities as the rest of us and I say rubbish. It is very easy to distinguish right from wrong and some – not all – have made a choice, but when that backfires on them they want the very society they treat with distain to come to their aid.

Solicitors are stuck in the middle. Because we live in a democracy which says all are to be treated equally and people, if in trouble, are entitled to free legal aid. These people must be paid for their time, just as any other profession – but they say the current system is unworkable.

Prior to the start of the month, they got paid a fee for taking on a new client and then got a lesser payment each time that person appeared in court. Sounds very simple and fair – until you read of some “exceptions” as I have previously outlined.

On the other side you have the justice minister stating he cannot allow a scenario where his department is literally writing a blank cheque on behalf of the taxpayer to fund the old arrangement. You can see his point when a comparison is drawn against some data retrieved showing in previous cases the bill to the state was €630,000 – but under the new payment system that bill would be €54,000.

The courts system was thrown into semi-chaos over the past couple of weeks with cases being adjourned because solicitors had withdrawn their services. Thankfully, the judicial system is going on its summer holidays at the end of the month, so the problem will be parked for a few weeks.

Hopefully, during that time a solution to the stand-off by both sides will be reached because the last thing anyone of us want is more criminals walking our streets because they couldn’t get a fair trial.