NI's Justice Minister announces Legal Aid fees uplift and expansion of eligibility
Northern Ireland's Justice Minister has unveiled plans for an uplift in legal aid remuneration, and also a widening in the eligibility criteria.
Naomi Long claims the group of reforms she announced on Monday will make sure the legal aid system is "cost effective and sufficiently transparent", but funding for the plans will be subject to engagement with the Department of Finance, as delivery "needs to align with resources".
The "Enabling Access to Justice" programme would increase eligibility for legal aid, give an uplift in fees for publicly funded work, alongside a "root and branch" review of fee structure for public legal services.
In 2022/23, the average spend on legal aid per capita in Northern Ireland was £67 per head, compared to £37 in England and Wales, £26 in Scotland and £20 in the Republic of Ireland.
In a statement to the Assembly on Monday, the Alliance Party leader said the justice system needs reform to ensure it "reduces rather than increases trauma and stress", but that her department is "consistently underfunded".
She said: "£114 million was paid to legal professionals in 2023/24 - the highest level in the history of legal aid.
"We're already on track to meet that spend again this year, having secured additional funding in the October monitoring round."
She added: "It also has to be acknowledged that there is increasing demand right across the justice system, reflecting that all too often we are the provider of last resort.
"I therefore need additional funds to ensure I can properly protect citizens, to ensure the vulnerable are not at risk, that I can adequately resource police, prisons and justice delivery."
All Stormont departments have expressed budget pressures, with Ms Long acknowledging that "increasing eligibility comes with a responsibility to ensure we're living within our means".
She said: "We simply do not have the resources to fund every case, however deserving.
"Neither can we afford to allow the spend to increase exponentially, as the Justice budget certainly won't.
"I also want to ensure access to justice or the quality of service is not dependent on whether you have substantial means or qualify for legal aid."
She added: "Any uplift will, of course, be subject to affordability. It must also be acknowledged that a robust and enduring profession is not solely contingent on fees."
The Justice minister further stated that in addition to a means test for legal aid, there should be a "merit test".
"Would a person take this case if they were paying for it themselves, or are they solely taking it because someone else is picking up the bill, namely the public purse?" Ms Long said.
"And that is something that we do intend to look at very carefully as part of what we're doing, because if we are really protecting the most vulnerable, then we need to make sure that the legal aid spend we have is targeted at the most vulnerable."
The reforms will also see the department explore the introduction of private financing to support wider access to justice.
"One of the principles of managing public money is that public money should not displace private money where that private money is available, and we need to be very careful that isn't happening," she said.
"So for example, there will be people who will automatically be allowed to get legal aid for their defence.
"They may be very wealthy people who could have paid for their own defence, and if they are then convicted, I think it is right that we should seek redress on the case ahead.
"In terms of other options that are available in terms of private financing, we're not talking here about bringing in companies who will run it as private enterprise, I was very clear in saying that I want to ensure whether people have means or are accessing through legal aid, they get the same quality of service, and that has to be the baseline."
The Enabling Access to Justice programme will also trial "alternative dispute resolution models" and "incentivise early resolution" of cases through the remuneration review.