People who don’t qualify for civil legal aid because they narrowly exceed the income threshold face huge legal bills they can’t afford, according to a report from a legal advice charity.
Ree Legal Advice Centers (Flac), CEO Eilis Barry, said there is “a huge gap” between those with incomes low enough to be entitled to legal aid and those who can actually afford legal services.
The situation was indicative of an access to justice crisis, the charity said.
The organization’s 2021 annual report, released today, states that people who are in this loophole are “in a particularly difficult position when trying to borrow money from family, friends or lenders or trying to navigate the legal system as laymen.” who litigate”.
The report details a case in which a party to a disputed family law matter was unable to obtain civil legal aid because their income was €500 higher than allowed below the settlement threshold.
They ended up with a legal bill of more than €20,000 that they are now having a hard time paying.
“Cases like this are very common. It’s a real problem,” said Mrs. Barry.
According to a currently applied income test, a person must have an annual disposable income of less than $18,000 and disposable assets of less than $100,000 to qualify.
A major overhaul of Ireland’s civil legal aid system, chaired by former Chief Justice Frank Clarke, has finally started in recent weeks after years of lobbying by agencies such as Flac to re-examine the scheme.
The annual report said another problem is that those who do qualify can wait many months for their legal aid approval.
Some key jurisdictions, such as homelessness, housing and discrimination laws, are also generally not covered, Ms Barry said.
The Flac executive said the organization was approached by nearly 2,000 people last year with questions about employment law, but the charity was unable to direct them anywhere because they would receive no legal aid and could not afford a lawyer.
“There is currently no legal aid for employment and discrimination claims with the Workplace Relations Commission,” she said.
Ms Barry said one measure of unmet legal need at this time was the fact that the organization received 13,147 calls last year, the highest number since 2015.
“It’s important to note that these numbers are just the tip of the iceberg, as Flac can’t answer every call to our phone line,” she said.
Nearly 30 percent of all questions, a record 3,895, related to family law matters such as divorce, legal separation, domestic violence and child custody and child support.
According to the report, ineligibility or a delay in receiving legal aid was a complicating factor in most of these cases. According to the report, 55 percent of laypersons litigating had a family law issue.
“Callers often contacted the Flac Information and Referral Line in situations where they had been given legal action but had many months of delays in obtaining approval for legal aid,” the report said.