24 April 2024
MLAs hear of escalating challenges to access justice
The
Law Society of Northern Ireland and The Bar of Northern Ireland briefed MLAs on
the importance of maintaining access to justice for people across society in
the face of public finance challenges and a steady decline in expenditure in
publicly funded legal services since justice became a devolved matter in
2010.
Access
to justice protects society’s most vulnerable and enables citizens to
effectively exercise their rights. Timely access to legal recourse ensures that
our courts are accessible to all, not just because individual parties in a
dispute can afford it or somehow are considered to deserve the benefit, but
because court rulings serve the whole of society.
The
new group, chaired by Stewart Dickson MLA, will bring together elected
representatives on a cross-party basis to provide an opportunity for the legal
professions to engage with and inform MLAs on these issues affecting their
constituents.
In
a joint statement The Bar of Northern Ireland and The Law Society of Northern
Ireland, said:
“The
establishment of the All-Party Group on Access to Justice is a positive
development and comes at a time when a challenging debate is taking place about
how to best enable access to justice across society against a backdrop of
systemic under-funding.
“A
fair and just society requires equal access to justice. It is about helping
people to deal with the challenges of life - employment issues, family
breakdown, housing insecurity or dealing with criminal matters. These are life
changing events during which people should be treated fairly and have an
opportunity for appropriate and timely redress through our courts.
“Yet
many people across Northern Ireland struggle to exercise that right. Many
issues apparent in the health service have materialised in the justice system –
long delays and backlogs, a dedicated but stretched, pressured workforce,
historic underinvestment in the system and the need for structural reform.
“This
new All-Party Group presents an opportunity to explore these issues in some
detail and to provide an interface between our MLAs and all those who have a
role to play in problem solving, including third sector organisations. Importantly,
the All-Party Group can also foster enhanced political and public understanding
of access to justice, empowering people to access their rights.”
The
Alliance Party’s Stewart Dickson MLA and Chair of the new Access to Justice All
Party Group at Stormont, added:
“I’m
pleased to see the formation of this group today, the first of its kind at
Stormont. Access to justice is an essential right within any democratic society
and indeed a fundamental principle of the rule of law. The present issues in
our justice system are certainly extensive and cause great concern.
So, a group
dedicated to exploring access to justice issues is timely, and it will be beneficial
for MLAs who are eager to dive deeper and find some solutions to these problems
which are impacting people and their outcomes in our constituencies. Access to justice
can’t always receive the attention it requires in the Assembly or even the
Justice Committee, so I’m glad that we have this additional forum spearheaded
by The Law Society and Bar of Northern Ireland to inform MLAs practically about
these challenges".