Legal Aid

Reform of the civil legal aid scheme has moved into its second phase with the launch of a public consultation. The public consultation launched yesterday is in addition to the stakeholder consultation which launched in November and remains open until February. A further targeted consultation for har

Legal advice and legal representation should be provided to people struggling with consumer debt, legal rights group FLAC has said. The fourth and final paper in FLAC's "Pillar to Post" series on consumer debt issues is due to be published this evening.

The long-awaited review of Ireland's civil legal aid scheme has begun with the opening of a consultation for stakeholders. The consultation, which will run from today until Friday 6 January, marks the first part of a multi-phase consultation process aimed at capturing a broad range of views across s

Northern Ireland’s High Court has determined that it was unreasonable for an applicant to be denied legal aid, including the support of a senior counsel, for his asylum appeal where he was entitled to this during his original High Court case. This application involved a challenge to a decision

The Law Society of England and Wales's new president has said criminal lawyers should refuse work for which they are not properly remunerated as they demand a 15 per cent increase in legal aid fees, in line with barristers. Lubna Shuja's appointment comes as solicitors have been offered a nine per c

Criminal barristers in England and Wales are to end their indefinite strike later today after accepting the UK government's deal on legal aid fees. Fifty-seven per cent of barristers voted in a ballot to accept a 15 per cent pay rise, the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) said.

There has been a "flight of solicitors" from the legal aid family law panel due to the poor rates paid for legal aid work, a leading family lawyer has said. Keith Walsh, who practises in Dublin, made the comments following the launch of the Legal Aid Board's annual report for 2021 yesterday.

Criminal barristers in England and Wales have agreed to vote on ending strike action following discussions with the UK's justice secretary, Brandon Lewis. The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) will re-ballot members following meetings with Mr Lewis and his decision to offer a package of further reforms

Community Law & Mediation (CLM) Limerick, the only independent community law centre outside of Dublin, has celebrated 10 years of providing free legal advice. Chief Justice Donal O'Donnell joined representatives of the law centre at an event marking the anniversary of its founding in 2012, when

Criminal barristers in England and Wales have today begun an indefinite strike aimed at forcing the UK government to deliver a further boost to legal aid funding. Barristers have been striking sporadically since June and last month voted overwhelmingly to escalate their action to an indefinite strik

The government should invest €3.3 million in restoring legal aid fees for barristers in order to more effectively protect the rights of those in custody, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said. The human rights organisation today launched its pre-budget submission, which calls on

English solicitors could be given more advocacy rights under UK government plans to break the barristers' strike, according to reports. The Daily Mail quotes a government source as saying ministers "are looking to give more solicitors higher rights of audience to broaden the work they can do, increa

As strikes grind the English courts to a halt, barristers in Ireland have talked up the case for similar action here as a minister reportedly gives consideration to long-awaited fee restoration. Members of the Bar Council last week met with Michael McGrath, the minister for public expenditure and re

Criminal barristers in England and Wales have voted overwhelmingly for an indefinite strike in a major escalation of their campaign for higher legal aid pay. After a two-week ballot by the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) in which 2,273 people voted — significantly more than either of the two pr

Northern Ireland's legal aid agency has launched a crackdown on overpayment through a new process that will see a random monthly sample of cases investigated to confirm the financial eligibility of the applicant at all stages. The Legal Services Agency (LSA) previously began investigating a monthly