Terms and Conditions

1. The Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995 (“the Act”) provides that the Legal Aid Board (“the Board”) may establish and maintain a panel of barristers who are willing to provide legal aid and advice on such terms as the Board may, with the consent of the Minister for Justice and Equality and the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, determine. Subject to the provisions of the Act, any eligible barrister who is prepared to comply with such terms and conditions shall be entitled to have his or her name entered on the said Panel.

2. The operative date for these provisions shall be the 1st day of August 2012. These provisions shall apply to all authorisations in relation to the retention of counsel granted after the operative date. Authorisations granted prior to the 1st day of August 2012 shall not be affected and shall continue to be governed by the arrangements previously in place.

3. Any barrister wishing to be considered, in accordance with the provisions of these terms and conditions, to have his or her name placed on the Panel must apply in writing to the Board on the form prescribed by the Board.

4. Any barrister wishing to apply to be placed on the Panel must be admitted to practice by the Chief Justice of Ireland. They must have professional indemnity insurance that is adequate for the purpose of the services provided. The Board requires that the minimum cover for any one case is €1m. The Board may revise this amount from time to time.

5. Barristers on the Panel must comply with the tax clearance procedures specified in the Department of Finance Circular 43/06 entitled ‘Tax clearance Procedures-Public Sector Contracts’ or any such circular amending or replacing that circular.

6. The Panel shall be in place for a period of three years from the 1st day of August 2012 or such other date or period as the Board may determine.

7. Barristers on the Panel must have access to e-mail facilities and must have IT software that is compatible with Microsoft Office software in order to ensure the effective and efficient administration of the Scheme.

8. The Panel shall be maintained in alphabetical order on a national basis and shall comprise the names of all barristers whose applications for placement have been accepted by the Board. For ease of reference the Panel may be maintained in the form of separate lists of barristers on the Panel who are willing to provide services in each County. Barristers may choose to provide services in as many Counties as they wish.

9. Every barrister who has been accepted for membership of the Panel will be allocated a supplier number which must be quoted on all correspondence.

10. A barrister from the Panel may be retained where the Board has authorised the retention of counsel for proceedings in the District Court, the Circuit Court, the High Court, the Central Criminal Court, the Court of Appeal, the Supreme Court, the European Court of Justice, the Refugee Appeals Tribunal and such other Court or Tribunal as may be determined by the Board from time to time. The Board may also authorise counsel for the purpose of furnishing an Opinion on a matter.

11. The Board authorises the retention of counsel on a case by case basis. A letter of authorisation or a legal aid certificate containing the authority to retain counsel will be furnished with each brief.

12. The Board acknowledges that the primary responsibility for ensuring clarity in relation to the extent of a barrister’s retainer in each individual case lies with the instructing solicitor. In order to avoid any uncertainty or lack of clarity in relation to the extent of the services which the Board has authorised, a barrister should satisfy themselves in relation to the extent of the services authorised. This authority may be determined by reference to a relevant legal aid certificate, and/or any amendments thereto, or written authority. As noted above, a copy of this authority should accompany the instructions to counsel and, if this is not done, counsel should request a copy of same prior to providing any services.

13. The Board will be responsible for fees, costs or expenses incurred where they have been approved in writing in advance. The Board will not be responsible for any fees, costs or expenses in the absence of such prior approval.

14. The Board acknowledges that the conduct of barristers is regulated by the Bar Council and it notes that barristers are expected to provide a service in keeping with the General Council of the Bar of Ireland’s Code of Conduct and Disciplinary Code that are issued from time to time by the Bar Council.

15. The Board is committed to the provision of a quality legal service to its clients and as part of this commitment has developed best practice guidelines for the provision of legal services in relation to certain matters. On foot of those guidelines it is expected that barristers will furnish draft pleadings, opinions and other documents within a maximum period of six weeks of being briefed / requested to do so.

16. As part of its commitment to ensuring that its clients receive a quality service, the Board reviews a number of solicitor files of legally aided clients. In the event that a file review identifies issues of concern or delay on the part of the barrister, the Board may inspect other solicitor files of legally aided clients where that barrister was engaged by the Board. Any concerns identified will be brought to the attention of the barrister.

17. The Board is responsible for maintaining the panel of barristers and it reserves the right to suspend or remove a barrister from the panel where it considers it appropriate to do so. It acknowledges that the Bar Council is the regulatory body for barristers and it does not seek to interfere with the regulatory aspect in any way. The Head of Civil Operations may suspend or remove a barrister from the Panel if it is considered that:-

(a) the barrister’s conduct when providing or selected to provide legal services or his or her professional conduct generally render him or her unsuitable, in the opinion of the Board, to provide such services; or

(b) the barrister has failed to comply with these Terms and Conditions; or

(c) the barrister has not participated in the Scheme to a satisfactory level, including but not confined to his/her refusal on a regular basis to accept a legally aided person as a client or to give a client appropriate legal advice or aid.

18. If the Head of Civil Operations decides to suspend or remove a barrister from the Panel, the barrister will be notified in writing of the grounds for the decision. The barrister may, within a period of one month from the date of such notification, appeal in writing the decision to the Board’s Chief Executive setting out the grounds of appeal in full. The Chief Executive may restore the barrister if satisfied that a case for restoration to the Panel is made out. Any appeal does not operate to delay or negate the suspension or removal of the solicitor from the Panel, unless the Head of Civil Operations or the Chief Executive determines otherwise.

19. Barristers who wish to withdraw from the Panel must inform the Board, in writing, of their intention to withdraw. Barristers shall give one month’s notice of intention to withdraw from the Panel. Barristers who withdraw from the Panel should complete all outstanding cases that have been referred to them. In the event that they are unable to do so they should pass the case to another barrister and agree the division of the fee payable (ref paragraph 29).

Section 31(4) of the Act provides that:

“ Where a person to whom the Board has decided to grant legal aid or advice has - ………

(b) accepted the nomination of a barrister pursuant to subsection (2) or been granted the services of a barrister pursuant to an application under subsection (3), the person may apply to the Board to have the services of that solicitor or barrister dispensed with and the services of another solicitor of the Board or solicitor from the solicitors’ panel or, as may be appropriate, barrister from the barristers’ panel obtained in the matter and where the Board considers it reasonable in all the circumstances, it may consent to the application.

20. If a client makes a complaint to a law centre about the performance of a barrister and it is not possible to address the complaint to the client’s satisfaction, the client shall be requested to put the complaint in writing. A copy of the complaint shall be forwarded to the barrister for his / her observations. The Board shall consider the complaint in accordance with its complaints procedure and also in accordance with the terms and conditions contained herein.

21. A barrister shall be paid a fee in respect of any case which they undertake under the Act. Such fee shall be calculated in accordance with the provisions of the First Schedule hereto.

22. Upon completion of a matter, a claim form (in an approved format) shall be completed and signed by the barrister and furnished to the instructing law centre for approval / certification and forwarding to the Board. A case shall be deemed to be completed at the end of the full hearing.

23. In cases that are exceptionally time consuming and lengthy the Board may consider paying an interim fee to a barrister.

24. If a solicitor is not in a position to certify the claim form as presented, he or shall return it to the barrister with a view to addressing the issue of concern. An incomplete or uncertified application for the payment of a fee cannot be processed.

25. No fee shall be payable in respect of a case where the brief is withdrawn by the Board prior to any work being carried out by the barrister. If the brief is withdrawn by the Board after the institution of proceedings and prior to the case being set down for trial, half the case fee shall be payable unless the legal aid certificate / authorisation is limited to a certain piece of work, e.g, drafting a court pleading, in which case the specific fee shall apply. However, if the case is settled with the assistance of the barrister the full case fee shall be payable.

26. Travelling expenses shall be payable to a barrister at 50% of the highest travelling rate payable to civil servants and shall be subject to the same conditions as apply to civil servants. Travelling expenses shall be allowable only in respect of travelling expenses actually and necessarily incurred in attending sittings of courts. No travelling expenses shall be payable in respect of a Dublin-based barrister for attending courts in the Dublin area. Travel expenses shall only be payable if the Board considers that the barrister is practising within his or her normal Circuit(s).

27. Fees due under these arrangements shall be paid in accordance with the Prompt Payments legislation on receipt of a properly completed claim form.

28. In exceptional cases a special fee shall be agreed between the Board and the barrister prior to the case being undertaken by him or her. This will only arise in cases of anticipated unusual length, difficulty and / or legal complexity.

29. Should work be carried out by more than one barrister, the relevant case fee shall be divided between them in such manner as may be agreed by the barristers or, in default of agreement, as may be determined by the Board.

30. In matters not covered by the provisions of the First Schedule hereto an appropriate fee shall be agreed between the Board and the barrister prior to the matter being undertaken by him or her. 31. In the event of a client obtaining an award of costs against a non-legally aided person, the barrister shall be entitled to be paid such sums as may be recovered, on a party and party basis, from the non-legally aided person, if greater than the case fee.

32. Nothing in these Terms and Conditions shall give rise to, or be construed as giving rise to, a relationship of employer and employee between the Legal Aid Board and any barrister on the Panel.

Schedule 1, which outlines the fees payable for civil legal aid work, is available to download here - Schedule-of-fees