Not a pauper nor a millionaire? Help is on its way

FINALLY, we have something Shane Ross and judges can agree upon. The Transport Minister and the judiciary may be at war over his efforts to change the way in which judges are selected.

But his plans to turn his attention to the issue of high legal costs is a topic senior judges have been quite vocal about of late. It would be a great irony if he were to end up on the same page as senior judicial figures.

The high cost of accessing the superior courts was one of the first issues highlighted by Mr Justice Frank Clarke when he became Chief Justice last year. He observed that most people cannot afford to pursue litigation.

Earlier this year the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Peter Kelly, said the only people who can litigate in the High Court are paupers or millionaires. He is leading a major review of the administration of civil justice and has suggested that fees will have to be capped in some shape or form.

The need to make the courts more accessible and improve Ireland’s competitiveness is nothing new. It was a key demand of the Troika, which saw the legal services industry as a sheltered sector.

While the Government implemented cuts to the fees paid to lawyers in the criminal courts, fees have grown considerably in the civil courts, where there are no set rates.

Legislative proposals to reform the regulation of legal services and tackle high costs were set in motion by then Justice Minister Alan Shatter in 2011. But some proposals faced considerable opposition from the legal professions; progress was achingly slow.

When the Legal Services Regulation Act was passed in 2015 many observers felt it was a watered-down version of the initial proposals.

Three years on, we still don’t know if it will lead to cheaper services.

The act allows for a series of measures which, in theory, should increase competition and drive down costs. We are still waiting for these to be implemented.

Some come within the remit of the fledgling Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA), but it is still finding its feet.

Later this year it plans to introduce frameworks for new business models, including partnerships between solicitors and barristers, which it is hoped will increase competition, bring down costs and prove beneficial to consumers.

Separately, the Taxing Masters Office (TMO), which decides on disputes over legal costs in the High Court, is being replaced by the Office of Legal Costs Adjudicators. Currently, it can be something of a mystery as to what the going rate is for a particular service.

This hasn’t been helped by the fact the TMO only publishes a handful of decisions each year.

Its replacement will be obliged by legislation to ensure a register of decisions is available for public inspection and published on the Courts Service website.

This office will be independent of the LSRA.

However, LSRA chairman Don Thornhill told an Oireachtas committee last week it is hoped that over time the Office of Legal Costs Adjudicators would establish what would be seen as reference prices.

While these measures are drawing closer, it could still be a few years before we know if they have had the desired effect.