04 October 2023
Law Society comments on review of criminal legal aid
The Law Society of Northern
Ireland welcomes the appointment of His Honour Tom Burgess and will engage
fully with the review of criminal legal aid.
This review is long overdue –
it must address the crisis in Access to Justice that has been allowed to
develop by – among other things – fees that have not changed for decades and
long delays in payment of bills to legal aid practitioners.
It is no
surprise that we have a shrinking pool of legal aid solicitors undertaking
legal aid work and we need urgent action to arrest this slide.