NI: Guardian ad litem agency to postpone recruitment of new solicitor panel

NI: Guardian ad litem agency to postpone recruitment of new solicitor panel

The reconstitution of the Northern Ireland Guardian Ad Litem Agency’s (NIGALA) solicitor panel has been postponed for at least six months.

The current 95-solicitor panel, constituted in 2015, is approaching the end of its five-year term and a new panel was due to be constituted.

Solicitors who have been members of the Law Society of Northern Ireland’s Children Order Panel for a minimum of two years are eligible for appointment to the panel.

NIGALA was set to issue notification of the recruitment exercise in May 2020, including information events for new applicants, but has been forced to defer the process because of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated restrictions.

The agency will review the matter in six months “to determine when it is feasible to proceed”, it said in a statement.

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