The Legal Aid Board provides legal advice and aid under the Civil Legal Aid Act 1995 and the Civil Legal Aid Regulations 1996-2017. The Board delivers these services through directly employed solicitors in its network of law centres around the country and through private solicitors from its private practitioner panels.
Section 3(3) of the Act provides that the Board shall, subject to the provisions of this Act, be independent in the exercise of its functions.
However, to be of assistance to the Deputy, I have had enquiries made with the Legal Aid Board, and I am informed that the Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995 (“the Act”) provides that the Legal Aid Board (“the Board”) may establish and maintain a panel of barristers (“the panel”) who are willing to provide legal aid and advice on such terms as the Board may, with the consent of the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, determine. Subject to the provisions of the Act, any eligible barrister who is prepared to comply with such terms and conditions is entitled to have his or her name entered on the said Panel.
There are currently 1,070 junior counsel and 84 senior counsel on the panel. As this is a rolling panel which can be updated many times each year it is difficult to give a figure per year. The Board’s immediately available historical data shows that in 2015 there were 45 senior counsel on the panel and there were 765 junior counsel on the panel.
The Board authorises the retention of counsel on a case by case basis. A letter of authorisation or a legal aid certificate containing the authority to retain counsel is furnished with each brief. The Board is responsible for maintaining the panel and it reserves the right to suspend or remove a barrister from the panel where it considers it appropriate to do so.
The grant of the services of a barrister is never automatic and authorisation must be sought by an instructing solicitor from the Board’s Legal Services Unit. The grant of senior counsel – for either an opinion or representation in court - is not automatic. The instructing solicitor must make a case for engaging senior counsel and if they do not the Board will not grant the services of senior counsel.
The Board ensures that solicitors are aware of the provisions from the public service Code of Standards and Behaviour which include a requirement that the solicitor should not use their official position to benefit themselves or others with whom they have personal or business ties. Solicitors are expected to exercise their professional judgement in ensuring that any barrister who is briefed has sufficient expertise and experience having regard to the complexity and level of specialisation required in each case.
Table A below shows the number of cases in which junior counsel were authorised in the years 2014 to 2019 inclusive. This data which is immediately available to the Board does not confirm that counsel was actually briefed in all the cases in which counsel were authorised but there is a correlation between the authorisation and actual briefing (see Table C for number of briefs on which payments were made).
Table A
|
Year
|
No. of cases in which junior counsel authorised
|
|
2014
|
2,673
|
|
2015
|
2,840
|
|
2016
|
2,746
|
|
2017
|
3,207
|
|
2018
|
3,350
|
|
2019
|
2,954
|
Table B below shows the number of senior counsel briefs granted in the years 2014 to 2019 inclusive.
Table B
|
Year
|
No. of cases in which senior counsel authorised
|
|
2014
|
41
|
|
2015
|
64
|
|
2016
|
74
|
|
2017
|
55
|
|
2018
|
68
|
|
2019
|
54
|
Table C shows the number of briefs that were paid for in the years 2014 to 2019 inclusive.
Table C
|
Year
|
Junior Counsel briefs paid
|
Senior Counsel briefs paid
|
|
2014
|
1,080
|
16
|
|
2015
|
1,444
|
25
|
|
2016
|
1,750
|
30
|
|
2017
|
2,017
|
31
|
|
2018
|
2,073
|
47
|
|
2019
|
2,453
|
42
|
It is the Board’s preference in all areas of law in which it operates is that there is a range of solicitors and barristers who are suitably skilled and expert to take on the particular type of work. At the moment the Board is working with the Bar Council of Ireland to finalise an
information module for barristers in relation to civil legal aid work. This module is due to be delivered in December. The purpose of this exercise is to encourage more barristers to develop expertise in areas where the Board needs that expertise.
