Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 17 December 2015
324. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Justice and Equality her views on the monopoly that the King's Inns has on the training and accreditation of barristers and her plans to open this up to competition. [45774/15]
View answer334. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the reasons for not providing for direct access for clients to barristers in the Legal Services Regulation Bill; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45889/15]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 324 and 334 together.
The Legal Services Regulation Bill, which has this week fully completed its passage through the Houses of the Oireachtas, provides at Section 13(2)(a) that it shall be a function of the new Legal Services Regulatory Authority to keep under review, and to make recommendations to the Minister for Justice and Equality, in respect of the availability and quality of education and training for the solicitors’ and barristers’ professions. This will include the curricular arrangements for the provision of clinical legal education and the methods by which, and the persons by whom, such education and training is provided. I have also ensured that the Bill includes, at Section 34(1), for a public consultation specifically in relation to this matter. The Authority's report to the Minister of that consultation must be provided within two years of the Authority's establishment. It will contain a review of the existing arrangements and will make such recommendations as it considers appropriate in relation to any necessary reforms. The outcome of these deliberations, as expressly enabled under the Bill, will inform policy in relation to legal professional education and in relation to how it may impact on access to the legal professions.
In relation to the Bill's provisions on access to barristers, the Bill does in fact provide for direct access by clients to barristers in relation to non-contentious business under Section 101. This is an important first step in ensuring that consumers who wish to directly access legal opinion do not necessarily have to do so through a solicitor intermediary. At the same time, the Bill provides that direct access to barristers may in the future also be provided in relation to contentious matters, that is to say contested or disputed matters such as those coming before a court or tribunal. This will be subject to the public consultation process set out in Section 120(1) of the Bill alongside the related consultation on the question of barristers holding clients' monies. The results of these consultations, scheduled within 12 months of the establishment of the Authority, will inform the necessary next steps to be taken. In this way the Bill provides a framework within which a degree of direct access to barristers can immediately be enjoyed by prospective clients for non-contentious business. At the same time, the Bill also seeks to ensure, for the future, that any necessary protections of the interests and monies of clients which may arise in the conduct of contentious business by a barrister on the basis of direct access by a client can be put in place.
