Criminal Legal Aid

Thursday, 25 October 2012

Questions (158)

John Browne

Question:

158. Deputy John Browne asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the schedule of fees and claims which barristers and solicitors can make for indictable cases; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46964/12]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice and Equality

I take it the Deputy is referring to fees under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme. Under the relevant regulations, fees paid to counsel acting in the Circuit and higher courts for defendants who have been granted free legal aid are paid on a parity basis with the fees payable to prosecution counsel as set by the Director of Public Prosecutions. The fees paid to solicitors for the defendant are related to those paid to junior counsel. Details of the main fees payable are set out in the table below. It should be noted that these fees were subject to reductions of 10% from 1 October 2011 as well as reductions of 8% in 2009 and 2010.

The regulations also provide that any disbursements that are reasonably made for the purposes of a case and are of a reasonable amount are also payable e.g. photocopying costs may be claimed at 11c per page. This rate was also reduced in 2011. The travel rate payable to solicitors was reduced with effect from 13 July 2011 to 24c per km and the subsistence rate was reduced by 50%. There is no entitlement for counsel to claim travel and subsistence under the regulations.

It should be noted that expenditure on criminal legal aid to 30 September, 2012 was €36.8m which is a 12.5% decrease over the same period last year.

SCHEDULE OF MAIN FEES

Senior Counsel

Court	Brief	Refresher	Sentence	Adjourned Sentence
Circuit Court	€1,716	€858	€370	€185
Central Criminal Court/Murder	€7,127	€1,562	€370	€185
Central Criminal Court/Rape	€5,704	€1,562	€370	€185

Junior Counsel

Court	Brief	Refresher	Sentence	Adjourned Sentence
Circuit Court	€1,144	€572	€247	€124
Central Criminal Court/Murder	€4,752	€1,041	€247	€124
Central Criminal Court/Rape	€3,803	€1,041	€247	€124

Solicitor

Court	Brief	Refresher	Sentence	Adjourned Sentence
Circuit Court	€1,144	€418	€180	€90
Central Criminal Court/Murder	€7,127	€750	€180	€90
Central Criminal Court/Rape	€3,803	€760	€180	€90