This article is from page 13 of the 2013-10-08 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 13 JPG
A JUDGE has said he will halt legal payments to solicitors from November onwards if clients fail to show up in court.
Judge Patrick Durcan told a sitting of Ennis District Court on Wednesday that from November 1 onwards he will start making orders for the non-payment of legal aid if accused persons fail to attend court dates.
Judge Durcan signalled his intent to halt some legal aid payments in September when he was critical of the high number of people not turning up in court.
On Wednesday Judge Durcan said the day is gone where Ireland can afford to fund people who show “total disregard” to institutions who are there to serve them.
His comments came as he issued a bench warrant for a man who had failed to show up for his case.
He told defence solicitor Tara Godfrey that this was the second occa- sion he had issued a bench warrant for the accused.
Ms Godfrey said it was unfair for practitioners to be penalised for their client’s absence. She said that by not paying solicitors, the court “effectively says our work is worthless”.
She told Judge Durcan she could not understand where he was coming from on the matter.
Judge Durcan said he was unhappy with the tone of Ms Godfrey’s comments, adding that he was willing to discuss his decision with a solicitor’s representative.
Judge Durcan added that the payments would only be withheld in situations where clients failed to show up. He said solicitors would still receive the initial assignment payment.
For a first court date solicitors can receive a maximum payment of up to € 201 for the first two cases in respect of one defendant, € 120.88 in relation to each subsequent case and € 50.39 for each subsequent hearing days.