Barristers support solicitors as criminal legal aid services withdrawal continues

More than 200 solicitors and barristers protested outside the Courts of Criminal Justice in Dublin on Monday as the criminal courts face more disruption with criminal defence solicitors extending their withdrawal of services.Solicitors and barristers from around the country were also due to protest on Monday and Tuesday, including in Mayo, Wicklow, Monaghan, Galway, Meath and Donegal.The dispute has been under way since mid-June over a new payment model, introduced on July 1st, for criminal defence work in the District Courts.Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan said the new model, involving a €520 flat fee irrespective of the number of clients or court appearances, will achieve cost savings and efficiencies.READ MORESolicitors have said it means they will not be paid for the work they do in more complex cases, including ones involving children and people with addiction and mental health issues.The dispute has led to thousands of criminal cases, including rape and murder cases, being adjourned across all court divisions, with implications for all court users, including victims of crime and accused persons.Members of the Irish Criminal Bar Association joined solicitors on Monday in urging the Minister to enter talks with the Law Society, which is the solicitors’ representative body, with a view to resolving the dispute.O’Callaghan has previously said he is awaiting the outcome of a judicial review challenge by solicitor John Quinn to the new payment model. The High Court is due to rule on October 13th on that challenge, aimed at quashing the statutory instrument introducing the new scheme.Legal sources have suggested, if the High Court upholds the statutory instrument, that will lead to more solicitors resuming criminal legal aid work.Since the widespread withdrawal of services from July 1st, some solicitors have returned to work in locations including Laois, Naas, Limerick and Kilkenny. Most solicitors, particularly in Dublin, continue to participate in the withdrawal but sources believe that could change depending on the outcome of the Quinn case. [ Barristers urge Jim O’Callaghan to ‘engage further’ with defence solicitors to end pay disputeOpens in new window ]Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan. Photograph: Olivier Hoslet/EPA Among the barristers who joined criminal defence solicitors on the steps of the Courts of Criminal Justice on Monday was Barry Ward, Fine Gael TD, and Mary Hanafin, a former Fianna Fáil TD and minister for education. Ward said barristers agree with the position adopted by the criminal defence solicitors and were protesting as a gesture of solidarity.He was “disappointed” the Minister had not to date accepted the Law Society’s offers to mediate the dispute. “If we’ve learned anything in Ireland, it is that talking does yield results.”The reality is the new law term has started, important cases need to be disposed of, and that the action will impact victims, accused people and many others, he said.“It’s not fair on everybody that it has not been resolved and any step that can resolve it should be taken.”Whatever the outcome of next week’s High Court decision, he hoped “we can all move on and both sides will accept the judgment of the court”, added Ward.Barrister Luke O’Higgins said the incomes of junior criminal barristers have been “devastated” by the dispute.He strongly disagreed with the Minister’s insistence the courts continue to operate effectively. “I’m in these courts every day,” he said. “I was in Dublin District Court last Friday and about 85 per cent of cases were adjourned.” “The only end to industrial action is engagement and I call on the Minister to engage. I don’t think what the solicitors are asking for is controversial. They are simply asking to be paid for the work they do.”Solicitor Amanda Connolly, vice chair of the criminal law committee of the Law Society, said: “This crisis was created by the Minister and only the Minister can end it.”O’Callaghan “changed the system without properly consulting the people who make it work, and three and a half months on he has still failed to engage meaningfully with us”, she said.[ Lawyers lose out on €6.6m in payments amid criminal legal aid disputeOpens in new window ]