asked the Minister for Finance if he will state in respect of each of the financial years 1943-44, 1944-45 and 1945-46 the total sum paid by way of fees to (a) each junior counsel, and (b) each senior counsel briefed on behalf of the State in criminal and civil cases, showing in each case the number of briefs in respect of which such fees were paid.
Written Answers. - Fees to Counsel.
The particulars asked for in the first part of the question are as follows:—
STATEMENT showing the sums paid in the years 1943-44, 1944-45 and 1945-46 by way of fees to Counsel briefed on behalf of the State in Criminal and Civil cases.
Name of Counsel |
Sum paid by way of fees |
||||||||
1943/4 |
1944/5 |
1945/6 |
|||||||
(1) |
(2) |
(3) |
(4) |
||||||
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
|
(a) Junior Counsel: |
|||||||||
Carey, P.J. |
8 |
8 |
0 |
— |
5 |
5 |
0 |
||
Connolly, T.J. |
— |
8 |
8 |
0 |
220 |
10 |
0 |
||
Conroy, J.C. |
59 |
17 |
0 |
227 |
17 |
0 |
195 |
6 |
0 |
Danaher, M. |
15 |
15 |
0 |
— |
— |
||||
Danckwerts, H.O. |
— |
5 |
10 |
0 |
— |
||||
D'Arcy, J. |
132 |
6 |
0 |
190 |
1 |
0 |
113 |
8 |
0 |
Donovan, T.J. |
448 |
7 |
0 |
340 |
4 |
0 |
244 |
13 |
0 |
Doyle, T.A. |
37 |
16 |
0 |
72 |
9 |
0 |
116 |
11 |
0 |
Durcan, J. J. |
137 |
11 |
0 |
82 |
19 |
0 |
71 |
8 |
0 |
Farrell, J.J. |
313 |
19 |
0 |
179 |
11 |
0 |
— |
||
Fitzpatrick, F. |
6 |
6 |
0 |
10 |
10 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
0 |
Geraghty, J. |
317 |
2 |
0 |
424 |
4 |
0 |
393 |
15 |
0 |
Griffin, P.J. |
66 |
3 |
0 |
50 |
8 |
0 |
119 |
14 |
0 |
Hannin, T. B. |
236 |
5 |
0 |
561 |
15 |
0 |
556 |
10 |
0 |
Humphries, R.P. |
— |
— |
632 |
2 |
0 |
||||
Hurley, G. |
244 |
13 |
0 |
213 |
3 |
0 |
512 |
8 |
0 |
Kelly, I. J. |
56 |
14 |
0 |
151 |
4 |
0 |
250 |
19 |
0 |
Kenny, K. |
— |
5 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
||
McDonagh, D. |
162 |
15 |
0 |
306 |
12 |
0 |
148 |
1 |
0 |
MacDonald, N.K. |
— |
18 |
18 |
0 |
205 |
16 |
0 |
||
McDowell, A.G. |
108 |
3 |
0 |
237 |
6 |
0 |
880 |
19 |
0 |
Mac Fhionnlaoich, D. |
— |
45 |
3 |
0 |
178 |
10 |
0 |
||
Mac Firbhisigh, T. |
432 |
12 |
0 |
621 |
12 |
0 |
— |
||
McGilligan, M. |
2 |
2 |
0 |
— |
— |
||||
McGivern, J.S. |
533 |
8 |
0 |
267 |
15 |
0 |
312 |
18 |
0 |
McKenna, C.B. |
— |
— |
103 |
19 |
0 |
||||
McMahon, J. |
— |
— |
5 |
5 |
0 |
||||
Maguire, C. |
— |
— |
9 |
9 |
0 |
||||
Marnan, T. G. |
82 |
19 |
0 |
33 |
12 |
0 |
6 |
6 |
0 |
Mayne, D.F. O'N. |
— |
16 |
16 |
0 |
17 |
17 |
0 |
||
Micks, E.C. |
165 |
18 |
0 |
64 |
1 |
0 |
159 |
12 |
0 |
Molloy, M. J. |
186 |
18 |
0 |
121 |
16 |
0 |
162 |
15 |
0 |
(a) Junior Counsel: |
|||||||||
O'Callaghan, M. |
45 |
3 |
0 |
63 |
0 |
0 |
103 |
19 |
0 |
O'Connor, F. |
2 |
2 |
0 |
— |
14 |
14 |
0 |
||
Ó h-Uadhaigh, R. |
198 |
9 |
0 |
349 |
13 |
0 |
630 |
0 |
0 |
O'Keeffe, A. |
570 |
3 |
0 |
1,141 |
7 |
0 |
925 |
1 |
0 |
O'Mahony, E. |
166 |
19 |
0 |
124 |
19 |
0 |
44 |
2 |
0 |
O'Neill, H. |
149 |
2 |
0 |
136 |
10 |
0 |
106 |
1 |
0 |
O'Reilly, J. P. |
101 |
17 |
0 |
16 |
16 |
0 |
43 |
1 |
0 |
Roche, W.F. |
4 |
4 |
0 |
— |
— |
||||
Ryan, P.N. |
— |
— |
25 |
4 |
0 |
||||
Sheehan, P. A. |
259 |
7 |
0 |
241 |
10 |
0 |
203 |
14 |
0 |
Sherry, F. |
680 |
8 |
0 |
1,522 |
10 |
0 |
850 |
10 |
0 |
Sweetman, E.T. |
— |
— |
13 |
13 |
0 |
||||
Teevan, T. |
214 |
4 |
0 |
94 |
10 |
0 |
119 |
14 |
0 |
Wood, E.M. |
— |
4 |
4 |
0 |
— |
||||
(b) Senior Counsel: |
|||||||||
Binchy, M. |
33 |
12 |
0 |
90 |
6 |
0 |
— |
||
Buckley, F.V. |
346 |
10 |
0 |
— |
21 |
0 |
0 |
||
Budd, F.G. |
34 |
13 |
0 |
10 |
10 |
0 |
— |
||
Carson, W. H. |
78 |
15 |
0 |
99 |
15 |
0 |
79 |
16 |
0 |
Casey, C.F. |
— |
8 |
8 |
0 |
— |
||||
Connolly, M. |
4 |
4 |
0 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
— |
||
Fitzgibbon, F. |
37 |
16 |
0 |
47 |
5 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
Fleming, A.C. |
— |
— |
1 |
2 |
7 |
||||
*Hooper, J. |
767 |
11 |
0 |
1,645 |
7 |
0 |
1,377 |
12 |
0 |
Hughes, H. |
— |
— |
10 |
10 |
0 |
||||
Kelly, E.J. |
193 |
4 |
0 |
53 |
11 |
0 |
— |
||
Lavery, C. |
32 |
11 |
0 |
24 |
3 |
0 |
65 |
2 |
0 |
McCarthy, J.A. |
1,186 |
10 |
0 |
1,319 |
17 |
0 |
24 |
3 |
0 |
McCarthy, P. |
— |
— |
21 |
0 |
0 |
||||
McEnery, P.J. |
78 |
15 |
0 |
178 |
10 |
0 |
470 |
8 |
0 |
McGonigal, R. |
731 |
17 |
0 |
746 |
11 |
0 |
305 |
11 |
0 |
McLoughlin, R. F. |
1,481 |
11 |
0 |
1,366 |
1 |
0 |
1,052 |
2 |
0 |
Moloney, H. J. |
153 |
6 |
0 |
229 |
19 |
0 |
147 |
0 |
0 |
Moriarty, O. |
338 |
2 |
0 |
173 |
5 |
0 |
136 |
10 |
0 |
Murnaghan, G.D. |
1,326 |
3 |
0 |
2,060 |
2 |
0 |
1,394 |
8 |
0 |
O'Connor, A. |
— |
150 |
3 |
0 |
248 |
17 |
0 |
||
*O Dalaigh, C. |
1,254 |
15 |
0 |
1,066 |
16 |
0 |
677 |
5 |
0 |
The O'Rahilly |
— |
— |
7 |
7 |
0 |
* Including sum paid as Junior Counsel.
The information requested in the second part of the question could not be made available except at considerable labour and expense. It is available, however, in another form in the following statement which indicates the fees normally paid to counsel in criminal and civil cases:—
CRIMINAL CASES.
Counsel |
Circuit Court |
Central Criminal Court |
Special Criminal Court |
Court of Criminal Appeal |
Settling Indictment |
Directing Proofs |
||||||||||
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
||
Senior |
6 |
6 |
0 |
10 |
10 |
0 |
10 |
10 |
0 |
Same as in Court of Trial |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
Junior |
4 |
4 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
7 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
CIVIL CASES.
Counsel |
Circuit Court |
High Court |
Supreme Court |
Directing Proofs |
|||||||||||
High Court |
Circuit Court |
||||||||||||||
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
||||
Senior |
6 |
6 |
0 |
12 |
12 |
0 |
12 |
12 |
0 |
3 |
3 |
0 |
From |
||
to 5 |
5 |
0 |
£1 |
1 |
0 |
||||||||||
Junior |
4 |
4 |
0 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
0 |
From |
||
£1 |
1 |
0 |
The amount of the fee is fixed by the Attorney-General in each case and while the above scale is usually followed the Attorney-General may depart from it where the amount of work involved and the difficulties of law so warrant. The maximum fee on a senior brief is 25 guineas except where, after consultation with the Minister for Finance, a special fee is sanctioned exceptionally.
asked the Minister for Finance if he will state in respect of each of the years 1944 and 1945 (1) the amount of the fees paid to (a) junior, and (b) senior counsel in original trials where the conviction was quashed on appeal; (2) the amount of the fees paid to (a) junior, and (b) senior counsel in appeal cases which resulted in the quashing of convictions; (3) the amount of the fees paid to (a) junior, and (b) senior counsel in retrials following such appeals; (4) the total sum paid by way of costs in each of those years in respect of proceedings where a conviction was set aside on appeal; and (5) the number of such appeals.
The information asked for by the Deputy is contained in the tabular statement which follows.
It may be mentioned that a statistical approach does not provide a good basis for considering this matter. The function of the Attorney-General, where a prima facie case is made out, is not to decide it himself but to send it before the court. No case is ever sent for trial unless there is evidence available to support the charge.
Following is the statement:—
FEES TO COUNSEL AND COSTS ARISING IN SUCCESSFUL CRIMINAL APPEAL CASES.
Year |
Fees paid to Counsel in original trials where the conviction was quashed on appeal |
Fees paid to Counsel in appeal cases which resulted in quashing of the convictions |
Fees paid to Counsel in retrials following such appeals |
Costs paid by State in cases where conviction was set aside on appeal |
No. of such appeals |
|||||||||||||||||
(1) |
(8) |
(9) |
||||||||||||||||||||
Senior |
Junior |
Senior |
Junior |
Senior |
Junior |
£ |
s. |
d. |
||||||||||||||
(2) |
(3) |
(4) |
(5) |
(6) |
(7) |
|||||||||||||||||
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
£ |
s. |
d. |
|||||
1944 |
472 |
10 |
0 |
346 |
10 |
0 |
275 |
2 |
0 |
219 |
9 |
0 |
47 |
5 |
0 |
31 |
10 |
0 |
165 |
7 |
10 |
9 |
1945 |
233 |
2 |
0 |
51 |
9 |
0 |
103 |
10 |
0 |
102 |
18 |
0 |
602 |
14 |
0 |
274 |
1 |
0 |
1,835 |
15 |
5 |
8 |
NOTES:—
(1) Fees paid in 1945 to Counsel in original trials where convictions were quashed on appeal do not include one trial in the Special Criminal Court in which an individual (in whose case only the conviction was quashed) was charged jointly with six other persons. The fees paid on that trial to Senior and Junior Counsel were £145 10s. 0d. and £106 1s. 0d. respectively, and it is not possible to apportion them as referable to that defendant's case alone; the same fees would have been payable if he had not been charged.
(2) Fees paid to Counsel for retrials following appeals include sums of £333 18s. 0d., £117 12s. 0d., and £119 14s. 0d. paid to two Senior Counsel and a Junior Counsel in respect of retrials held in 1945 following convictions quashed in 1944.
(3) The figure for 1945 in column (8) includes the sum of £1,459 2s. 5d., being the costs (referred to in the note to the statement in cols. 325/26 of the Dáil Debates of 21st February, 1945) in cases in which retrials were held in the year 1945 following convictions quashed in the year 1944. It does not include the costs payable in three cases in which payment has not been claimed following taxation.