Law Society asks Minister to consider mediator in bid to end solicitors standoff

The Law Society of Ireland has asked Minister for Justice Jim O’Callaghan to consider appointing a mediator to resolve the dispute over a new payment model for criminal legal aid work.Most criminal defence solicitors are continuing to withdraw services over the changed system, which saw a single flat fee of €520 introduced on July 1st, regardless of the number of court appearances.The withdrawal of services has resulted in the adjournment of thousands of criminal cases, with society president Rosemarie Loftus telling O’Callaghan the impasse is having a “profound impact on the administration of justice”.In a letter sent on Tuesday, seen by The Irish Times, Loftus notes that the number of legal aid certificates granted has “collapsed”, falling by 93 per cent from 10,277 in July of last year to 702 last July.READ MOREDescribing a fall of this scale as “deeply worrying”, Loftus wrote: “As you know, behind each of these numbers is a defendant without representation, a victim whose wait for justice keeps getting adjourned, a garda anxious to bring a case to conclusion – and many others who are directly impacted.”Loftus suggests appointing an independent mediator to help find a solution, saying they could help “bridge the gap between your policy objectives and the practical realities experienced by practitioners on the ground”.“Given the importance of restoring stability to the criminal justice system, I think that the time has come to consider such an approach,” she said.In the letter, which was shared with criminal defence lawyers, Loftus also tells the Minister she was “surprised” by his suggestion last week that the criminal courts were “operating effectively”.“In fact, I am hugely concerned at the impact the current dispute is having on victims of crime, those accused of crime, the general public and all court users.”Speaking to reporters last Thursday, O’Callaghan reiterated his view that the previous system encouraged adjournments and facilitated “abuses” of legal aid certificates.[ Legal aid fees dispute: Pressure mounts on Jim O’Callaghan as solicitors dig inOpens in new window ]Loftus said there were two outstanding matters in dispute. One of which was the treatment of separate and distinct criminal cases “as a single matter” when they come before the court on the same day. The other was the absence of a “practical mechanism” to deal with “exceptional cases” that often concern children and those with mental health issues, which can involve “unusually high numbers of court appearances”.She also urged O’Callaghan to “avoid a repeat of what has happened under the Civil Legal Aid scheme, where a similar model was introduced”.The number of solicitors working under the District Court Family Law panel has fallen by more than 60 per cent over the past decade, she wrote, from 953 in 2016 to 379 by last June.Noting that “many” people face long delays in securing legal support, Loftus said it was “critical that the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme does not go the same way”.Asked whether the Minister would consider mediation, a spokesperson for the Department of Justice only confirmed the letter was received.