There are concerns about low rates of pay for advocates involved, and also low numbers of lawyers and their firms prepared to take legal aid cases.
Only about 20 – 10% – of the island’s advocates get involved in this work.
Pay rates have not been improved for 20 years, though the basic pay rate of £167 an hour is higher than other comparable jurisdictions and much higher than that seen in the UK.
Two years ago the States commissioned an independent report on the sustainability of the scheme, however very few of its recommendations have been acted upon and the major concerns have not been addressed.
Report author Colin Stutt, from the UK’s Legal Services Commission, said that finding ways to make the scheme sustainable in the longer term was the most difficult challenge facing the review.
He said he, and the States, needed to consider priorities, and look for savings and areas to redeploy funds.
But ultimately Mr Stutt said that he believed, following an initial review of hourly rates for advocates which was suggested to be annual in line with inflation, that further monies should be used to extend eligibility, rather than pay lawyers more.
‘Once the States are satisfied that the scheme is secure, my suggestion is that increasing eligibility should be a higher priority than remuneration,’ he said.
An alternative for saving money would be to open access to more people with legal training to be able to take on legal aid cases, rather than restrict access to qualified advocates who can earn much more in other practice areas. Or the States could employ its own lawyers, though this has been largely dismissed by all parties.
‘Reforming the market for publicly funded legal services will be controversial and will require engagement and consultation to ensure that effective procedures and safeguards are in place, but Guernsey should not wait for the scheme to be on the point of collapse before using these powers,’ he said.
The scheme cost £2.24m. in 2022, with more than £1m. spent on family legal aid and £750,000 on criminal legal aid. Administration of the scheme cost more than £350,000.
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