Ireland not a high-cost legal jurisdiction, barristers claim
BARRISTERS have insisted Ireland is not a high-cost legal jurisdiction, despite concerns among senior judges that the expense of going to court is a barrier to justice.
The Bar of Ireland has claimed to the European Commission that increased competition and significant fee cuts for criminal work had led to severe reductions in fees paid to barristers over the past decade. It also warned capping personal injury awards would not in itself resolve the issue of the cost of insurance.
The claims were made in a submission to the commission, which is currently compiling a report on the rule of law in EU member states.
The level of fees charged by lawyers has long been a hot topic in Ireland.
New measures to improve transparency around fees were introduced last year, while a mechanism to limit the amount that can be charged in a court case is being considered by High Court president Peter Kelly as part of a major review of the administration of civil justice.
Mr Justice Kelly has previously remarked that only paupers or millionaires could litigate in the High Court, while Chief Justice Frank Clarke said the cost of going to court was a barrier to justice.
Meanwhile, overcharging has accounted for almost one in 10 complaints received by the Legal Services Regulatory Authority since it took control of disciplinary matters for solicitors and barristers.
However, the Bar of Ireland said that, when compared to other countries with similar legal systems, Ireland had not been found to be a high-cost jurisdiction for legal costs.
It pointed to a recent World Bank ‘Doing Business’ survey that found Ireland had the fourth-lowest lawyers’ fees out of eight common-law countries compared. Lawyers’ fees in Ireland accounted for 18.8pc of the value of a claim.
“When an assessment of legal costs is confined to common-law jurisdictions, Ireland, contrary to popular belief, is not found to be a high-cost jurisdiction for legal costs,” the submission argued.
It went on to say the market for barristers’ services was “more competitive than it has ever been”.
This had led to “very considerable reductions in fees paid to most barristers, particularly by private clients where there is no set scale of fees and the fee and manner of payment is usually negotiated by the solicitor on behalf of the client”.
It also said there had been no reversal of cuts to fees paid to barristers doing work for the Director of Public Prosecutions or under the criminal legal aid scheme, even though cuts applied to public and civil servants were being reversed.
The Bar reiterated previous warnings that such cuts had made practising criminal law unattractive and unviable for many legal practitioners.
It said there was a developing concern the numbers of junior counsel with experience in crime had become too low to replenish the loss of senior barristers who retire.
“Our data has indicated that following six years of criminal practice, retention rates at the criminal bar drop to less than a third of those who set out to pursue a career in criminal law,” the submission said.
It warned the trend would undoubtedly have “a profound effect on the administration of justice”.
The commission was also told the civil legal aid system in Ireland was “chronically under-resourced”, with lengthy delays in assessing eligibility leading to additional costs and stress for clients.