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A review of criminal legal aid has been announced
Legal aid has for years been somewhat of a controversial issue in Northern Ireland and it needs to be examined. On the one hand barristers want higher legal aid fees, arguing that they have had no review of the fees they are paid in the last 18 years.
Indeed, barristers do a difficult job and should be adequately paid for it. On the other hand, critics believe too much is being spent in this area each year. Concerns have also been raised about fraud and erroneous payments. In one case last year, it was found that a barrister here had overcharged taxpayers for work he could not possibly have done, claiming to have worked 29.5 hours in a day.
The barrister in question tried to illegitimately claim £568,000 in legal fees, but in the end had to accept £133,937 plus VAT following an investigation into his claims which imposed disciplinary sanctions but accepted that he had not acted dishonestly. He was also fined and suspended from practising for two months.
For years the Northern Ireland Audit Office has also been raising concerns about the potential for fraud and erroneous payments when it comes to legal aid.
In a 2019/20 audit of the accounts of the Legal Services Agency, which administers legal aid payments, the then comptroller and auditor general Kieran Donnelly gave the accounts a qualified audit opinion.
This means Mr Donnelly had concerns about the accounts, in this case “due to a lack of effective counter fraud arrangements and weaknesses in the financial estimates of provisions for ongoing legal aid cases”.
Mr Donnelly said at the time that further work is needed to produce an estimate of fraud and error by legal aid claimants and practitioners.
Then there’s the issue of transparency. Beginning in 2008, lists identifying the top earning barristers when it comes to legal aid were published. This stopped in 2016 after the practice was challenged by two barristers.
It is obvious the system needs to be reviewed and now this is happening.
The DoJ announced yesterday that it has launched a fundamental review of criminal legal aid here. Led by His Honour Judge Tom Burgess, the review will examine several areas, including fees and the overall efficiency of the criminal legal aid system. This is to be welcomed.
Given that tens of millions of pounds of public money is spent on legal aid each year, it is vital the system is fit for purpose.
