Justice minister’s ‘Rambo’ approach to reform criminal legal aid failed – Labour

The justice minister’s “Rambo” approach to reforming the criminal legal aid system has “failed”, a Labour TD said.

The High Court found that the new legal aid regulations brought in by Jim O’Callaghan are “grossly unfair” and “demonstrably illogical”.

Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty found that two key elements of the model were unlawful.

Justice Gearty said that the new system failed to create a rational system and failed to achieve the minister’s objective to curtail an abuse of the previous system in respect of multiple certificates.

The court rejected the Department’s approach of grouping charges together based solely on when they happened to be listed before a court, finding it to be “demonstrably illogical”.

Opposition parties, including Sinn Féin, Social Democrats and the Labour Party, all described the judgment as “embarrassing” for the Fianna Fáil minister.

Labour justice spokesperson Alan Kelly said Mr O’Callaghan should now accept that his payment model is “fundamentally flawed”.

“This is a deeply embarrassing judgment for Minister O’Callaghan,” he said.

“His Rambo approach has failed, and today’s ruling exposes how badly he has handled this dispute.

“I have told the Minister that I believe reform is necessary but he must now accept that the way he has gone about this been hazardous and embarrassing.

“Behind this dispute are people who need the courts to work. Victims need cases to progress.

“Minister O’Callaghan must take responsibility for how badly he handled this situation.

“He must address the issues identified in this judgment and bring this dispute to an end.”

Sinn Féin justice spokesman and chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Justice Matt Carthy said the minister allowed “chaos and uncertainty to reign” for months despite repeated warnings.

“Stakeholders have repeatedly raised concerns about these proposals and warned of the serious consequences they would have for the administration of justice,”Mr Carthy said.

“Instead of listening, the minister pressed ahead, allowing confusion, uncertainty and chaos to continue for months.

“This judgment raises serious questions about how these reforms were developed, scrutinised and implemented.

“The reality is this dispute will have consequences for the courts and for victims for months due to the backlog and significant delays created by adjournments.

“This situation was entirely avoidable.”

Mr Carthy said the minister’s “failure” to properly engage has had serious consequences.

Social Democrats TD Gary Gannon said the judgment is damning.

“This scathing judgment is hammer blow for the minister’s scheme and a major embarrassment for both him and the government,” Mr Gannon added.

“The minister’s handling of this entire fiasco has been a disaster. He arrogantly introduced these new rules without bothering to engage with the lawyers he expected to implement it.

“When issues with the scheme were immediately raised after its introduction, he arrogantly dismissed them and said he wasn’t for turning.

“Well, the High Court is now going to force him to turn and change aspects of this scheme, unless he embarks on another fool’s errand and tries to appeal this damning verdict.

“Delaying the inevitable any further would not be an advisable strategy for the minister, who has staked his ministerial reputation on standing over a criminal legal aid scheme that the High Court has now found to be illegal.”