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Annual Report 2007 - Developing the Civil Legal Aid Service
In 2007, the Board continued its efforts to develop the quality and nature of the service it offers to clients. Developments took place across a number of areas. These developments were in line with objectives set out in the Board’s 2006-2008 Corporate Plan. Some of the main developments are outlined below with reference to the relevant high-level goal in the Plan.
High-Level Goal: To provide a professional, accessible, quality service
An agreed systematic file review procedure was put into action in 2007 and all of the Board’s employed solicitors had a number of their files reviewed by a manager for the purpose of ensuring that the Board’s clients were being provided with an appropriate professional service. A file review process was also established for the purpose of reviewing the files of private solicitors, operating on behalf of the Board, and a significant number of such reviews took place during the course of 2007. The reviews primarily focused on the private solicitors who had been assigned the greatest number of cases.
A continued focus was placed on identifying those cases that were considered to be long running, on identifying the barriers that were preventing these cases being brought to a conclusion and on taking steps to remove those barriers in order to progress the case.
The Board continued to seek to ensure that legal aid applicants waited no longer than a period of four months for a first appointment with a solicitor. This was largely achieved.
A representative of the Board was appointed to the Law Society Task force which was established in 2007 to provide a constructive, independent report on legal aid in Ireland and to make recommendations for improving access to justice for those who cannot otherwise afford to access legal services.
High-Level Goal: To put in place an effective public information, education and communication process
The updated Board website (www.legalaidboard.ie) was launched in June 2007 with the primary focus of the update being to improve its accessibility and content. It is anticipated that there will be further significant improvements to the website during the course of 2008.
The Board adopted a formal External Communications Strategy in 2007 with the stated aims of improving the level and quality of the Board’s communications with the public, its clients and all stakeholders, including the media. It is also envisaged that the Strategy will enhance public awareness of the range and availability of the Board’s services, particularly amongst the potential users of those services. In developing the Strategy, the Board took account of Government policy on social inclusion, best practice for effective communication, the Board’s statutory obligations under its governing legislation as well as the objectives of its corporate plan.
The Board continued to have an active consultative panel through which it sought and continues to seek feedback in relation to how it can better inform the public about all aspects of legal aid and their potential entitlements to it. Additionally, a more active engagement was entered into with a number of other service organisations with a view to enabling the Board to respond more effectively to the needs of those seeking its services. The Board also initiated a review of its information services with a view to improving the level and quality of information given to those seeking its services. Pending the completion of this review the Board has deferred consideration of its proposed advice and telephone services.
High-Level Goal: To ensure the Board is innovative and responsive in it's approach to effective service delivery
As is evidenced from the information in relation to service delivery, the majority of the Board’s work continues to be in the area of family disputes. During the course of 2007, the Board consistently sought to inform its clients, potential clients and the general public about the benefits of engaging in negotiation to resolve family problems rather than the more commonly used option of simply applying to the courts. With a view to avoiding the courts process where possible and appropriate, the Board is fully committed to ensuring that its solicitors have the requisite skills to negotiate fair solutions on behalf of their clients. In 2007, further training in the collaborative law dispute resolution model was facilitated for both its own solicitors and the private solicitors engaged by the Board. In addition, in appraising the performance of solicitors and law centres, significant emphasis was placed on their capacity to deliver non court based dispute resolution options to the Board’s clients.
As outlined elsewhere, the specialist Medical Negligence Unit took over the handling of virtually all of the Board’s medical negligence cases in 2007, thus ensuring that the requisite expertise was available in these cases.
The Board also took steps to develop an integrated approach to the delivery of legal and other related services in one particular area of Dublin (Ballymun) as a pilot project to, inter alia, improve service delivery and to inform future legal aid development requirements and delivery.
In 2007, the Board carried out a review of the operations of the Refugee Legal Service. This was in line with the overall public service modernisation process and, more directly, stemmed from the Board’s 2006-2008 Corporate Plan which commits the Board to “ongoing review of the arrangements for providing legal aid services and consideration of how best to meet the needs of clients and potential clients”. It also took account of the evolution of the asylum seeker situation in Ireland and how the Board should respond to that. The review examined a number of areas looking at the services delivered by the RLS and how they are delivered. On foot of the review, the Board implemented a number of changes to the way the RLS carries out its operations in order to optimise the effectiveness and efficiency of the service.
High-Level Goal: To provide services in an environment which is appropriate to the business being conducted by the Board
During the course of 2007, the Board reviewed its service delivery locations in the Dublin area. In view of the fact that it had three law centres within a close proximity of each other in the city centre, as well as the newly-opened Medical Negligence Unit, it decided to close the law centre at Ormond Quay in December 2007. Existing clients were assigned to other law centres in the city.
It is anticipated that the Board will re-establish service delivery from an office at the District Court at Dolphin House, East Essex Street, Dublin 2 in 2008. The premises have been significantly upgraded by the Courts Service. The Board will have a solicitor based there who will provide services in most District Court family law matters from this office. It is also anticipated that this office will act as a referral unit for District Court cases in the Dublin area that are assigned to private solicitors. This will facilitate those seeking remedies through the particular Court as at the moment they are obliged to attend at the Board’s premises at Montague Court, Dublin 2 in order to apply for legal aid.
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