Ms Sara Phelan:

At the outset, I would like to extend thanks to the Chair and the members of the committee for their invitation to us, as representatives of the Bar Council of Ireland, to participate in this public session of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice to establish our views on the general scheme of the criminal justice (legal aid) Bill 2023. It would be somewhat remiss of me not to mention the significance of today, 3 October, as the day on which criminal barristers have withdrawn their professional services to highlight the unfairness and inequity in the professional fees paid to them and our concerns for the consequent availability of criminal barristers to prosecute and defend serious criminal cases.

As public representatives, members of the committee might wonder if this is an issue that is relevant to them or their constituents. It is relevant for many different reasons but I would like to highlight three of them. First, it is a national issue concerning the functioning of our criminal courts. One only needs to pick up newspapers in any our communities to understand the importance of local justice and the reassurance that a functioning system gives to the community.

Second, no more so than health, until it comes to one's family’s door, one might not necessarily fully appreciate the need for legal services. It is only when our loved ones, friends and colleagues have a need to access to criminal advocacy services, as victims or those accused of crime, that one realises the issues that arise. In recent months, there has been a shortage of counsel to prosecute serious criminal cases, and therefore it is a very serious issue.

Third, on a more international stage, it is a rule of law issue. The rule of law relates in part to the confidence and trust of the public in the administration of criminal justice and our independent courts system. We have seen in courts closer to home than we would like how those courts have been crippled, both directly and indirectly, with a negative impact on society and the citizens of those states. The rule of law is threatened by the situation we find ourselves in at the moment regarding professional fees. The Bar Council of Ireland's recommendation to members to withdraw their services today is unprecedented. The reason for it is the fact that a review, concluded in 2018, suggested that those fees should be restored following on from austerity-era cuts. Perhaps during the question and answer session, I will go into the flexibilities and reforms that have been provided by criminal practitioners.

It remains for me to thank the committee for inviting the Bar Council. We welcome engaging with it on the criminal justice legal aid scheme.