Sarah Havlin

The independent panel considers appeals regarding the granting of legal aid in civil cases.

Ms Havlin qualified as a solicitor in 1997 and specialised in acting in complex disputes and litigation across all courts, tribunals and arbitration bodies, representing commercial enterprises, insurance companies, public bodies and many large employers in Northern Ireland.

Since 2006, she has held public office roles and several fee-paid judicial roles, including 10 years as the Certification Officer of Northern Ireland, a regulatory and adjudication tribunal in the field of industrial relations.

Ms Havlin held the office of both Parliamentary Boundary Commissioner and Local Government Boundary Commissioner for Northern Ireland, setting the legal framework of administrative boundaries for elections at Westminster and local level.

She has also served as a non-executive director of the Youth Justice Agency of Northern Ireland and as the independent assessor of complaints for the Public Prosecution Service and the Police Ombudsman of Northern Ireland.

Ms Havlin has extensive experience in the legal chairmanship of several tribunals and statutory adjudication bodies in Northern Ireland and across the UK including the Exceptional Circumstances Tribunal, the Rural Payments Appeals Tribunal, the Parades Commission and the Central Arbitration Committee.

She is the current chairman of the Industrial Court of Northern Ireland and the Scottish Pubs Code Adjudicator.

Ms Havlin also sits as a member of the complaints committee at the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), the national regulator of the UK print and digital news industry, and she is an independent board member of the Labour Relations Agency.

Jonathan Killen, Conor Fegan, Megan McCann, Leonard Marken, Nichola McCartan, Brian Roulston and Eamonn Broderick have also been appointed as members of the panel.

The Legal Services Agency Northern Ireland (LSANI) is empowered to grant or refuse civil legal services and there is a right of appeal against those decisions to the civil legal services appeal panels. 

The appeals include the refusal of LSANI to grant legal aid to bring or defend proceedings and the refusal to allow solicitors to instruct counsel or expert witnesses in a case for which legal aid has been granted.

Presiding members, who are lawyers, are paid £350 per sitting and other members are paid £250 per sitting, which includes the preparation required and attendance at each sitting of the appeal panel. The fees are currently under review.