The Gazette 1973

FREE LEGAL AID CENTRES M A Y CLOSE

The law students, who now run eight free legal advice centres on a voluntary basis throughout Dublin, warned T.D.s and Senators in Leinster House yesterday that they will be forced to close down at the end of this year, unless the Government accepts its reponsibilities in this field. About 50 deputies and senators met a deputation from F.L.A.C. (Free Legal Advice Centrds) and heard an account of the rapidly-growing demand on the voluntary F.L.A.C. services. Miss Barbara Hussey, chairman of F.L.A.G. told the Oireachtas members: "Unless F.L.A.G. receives a firm commitent from the Government that it intends to introduce a more comprehensive State free legal aid system, we will be forced to withdraw our voluntary service." Miss Hussey and other F.L.A.C. Council members went to Leinster House to lobby for the introduction of a State system, and she said at a press conference afterwards that their representations seemed to have evoked "a very favourable reaction." However, Miss Hussey added : "If we feel that the State is going to do something, we are prepared to help out. But if we feel that the State is not going to do anything, then we will have to close down." She said that, apart from the increasing public de- mand which is more than the students' limited resources can cope with, they had some fears that "if we con- tinue this service we may even be postponing the intro- duction of a free State-run system." 4,000 Clients Since the first Free Legal Advice Centre was set up in 1967, F.L.A.C. has been consulted by nearly 4,000 clients. The three largest categories of cases have been interpersonal relations cases (mainly marital disputes), landlord and tenant cases, and criminal cases. The 80 students who run F.L.A.C. have the volun- tary assistance of 60 solicitors and 40 barristers, and the withdrawal of their service would be a major blow to people in the lower income brackets who come into contact, either voluntarily or involuntarily, with the Courts system. It was announced earlier this week—and the coin- cidence has evoked some comment—that F.L.A.C. was to get an allocation from the £200,000 extra which was promised in the Budget for child-care services. The F.L.A.C. deputation yesterday heard from the Attorney-General, Mr. Declan Costello, that the amount to be allocated to their organisation is £5,000. He was unable, however, to elaborate on how the Minister for Justice would require this money to be spent. The Minister, Mr. Cooney, was attending a Senate debate and was unable to meet the F.L.A.C. members, but he is to contact them in the near future with details. However, a F.L.A.C. council member, Mr. Alan Shatter, pointed out later : "We are trying to emphasise that we are only an interim service, and no matter how much money we get, we cannot cope with the long term problem."

The £5,000, F.L.A.C. members felt, might be for a duty solicitor to advise defendants in the Dublin Children's Court, and to provide some badly-needed secretarial services. But this, they added, would leave many other juveniles—in Ballymun, Rathfarnham and Ballyfermot area courts, and throughout the country— still without legal assistance. The existing limited system of State-provided free legal aid—it is available only in criminal cases and then only in exceptional circumstances—was described as totally inadequate by F.L.A.C. members, but they said that at least some help was available for people charged with criminal offences. No legal aid whatsoever was provided by the State for civil actions. They commented that there seemed recently to have been a relaxation in the attitude of the courts to granting legal aid in criminal cases. It was now granted much more readily than a couple of years ago. But the Department of Justice did little to publi- cise its availability, F.L.A.C. pointed out. A Public Right Among the other points made by Miss Hussey in the briefing for Oireachtas members was that F.L.A.C. should not have to provide what was, in effect, a charit- able service. "Free legal aid should be a right which people are entitled to, not something they should be dependent on a voluntary organisation for," she said. "We have no wish to perpetuate this charitable system." She added : "We have always left the State to intro- duce its own system of free legal aid and so we are not interested in receiving money to finance our voluntary work. We do not want to continue our service in- definitely as an inadequate alternative to a compre- henive State aid scheme." If definite steps to initiate a statutory service are not taken by the Department of Justice, F.L.A.C. will close down their centres from next January 1. Miss Hussey said, however : "We are prepared to cooperate fully with the Minister for Justice in devising a free legal aid system in criminal and civil cases if a firm commitment is forthcoming from him." The F.L.A.C. deputation circulated a questionnaire to deputies and senators at the briefing to ascertain their attitude to the question of introducing a State financed system. The estimated figure to run such a system is £200,000. Government Ministers who heard the F.L.A.C. case yesterday included the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr. FitzGerald, the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, Dr. Cruise O'Brien, and the Minister for Education, Mr. Burke. The former Minister for Justice, Mr. Des O'Malley, was also present and F.L.A.C. are to press for a meeting with the Minister for Justice, Mr. Cooney, on another occasion. Miss Hussey said at the press conference later that the Attorney General had indicated that there were going to be some reforms in the law relating to child offenders and also in legislation concerning marital cases. He had not indicated any official attitude on the question of a comprehensive free State legal aid scheme. {The Irish Times, June 1973)

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