News and Updates
The Traveller Equality & Justice Project welcomes the establishment of the ‘Civil Legal Aid Review Group’ by Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee.
The Traveller Equality & Justice Project welcomes the establishment of the ‘Civil Legal Aid Review Group’ by Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee.
The Legal Aid Review Group, whose work will run for a period of 12 months, has been tasked with the role of reviewing the current civil legal aid scheme and will launch a public consultation on the matter. The Group which is chaired by former Chief Justice Mr Frank Clarke, SC includes Chief Executive of FLAC and TEJP Partner, Eilis Barry BL alongside representatives from the Law Society, Law Library and Legal Aid Board. The TEJP particularly welcomes the inclusion of Mr Bernard Joyce, Director of the Irish Traveller Movement, whose membership will highlight the current access to justice barriers experienced by Travellers under the current civil legal aid scheme.
In particular, civil legal aid is not available for hearings before quasi-judicial bodies. This means that equality cases brought by Travellers to the Workplace Relations Commission under either the Employment Equality Acts or Equal Status Acts 2000-2018 are not eligible for legal aid. This presents significant barriers to Travellers who experience high rates of discrimination in venues whose jurisdiction falls under the WRC.
Furthermore, cases concerning evictions are also not eligible for legal aid under the current scheme. The limited application of the civil legal aid scheme presents a significant barrier and deterrent effect for Travellers, who may not feel comfortable representing themselves before the WRC. These barriers further exacerbate the significant unmet legal need and advice desert experienced by Travellers.
FLAC chief executive and group member, Eilis Barry, said: “This is a very significant moment in the history of access to justice in Ireland. This review is a golden opportunity to demonstrate the value of and invest in access to justice. We need to devise methods to measure and address the unmet legal need. Access to justice needs to be viewed as and treated as an essential service, not an add on when resources allow,” she added.
The TEJP welcomes the establishment of the Group and review by Minister McEntee and hopes that this will bring forward much-needed reform and the creation of an accessible equality system for all victims of discrimination in Ireland.