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Access to legal aid crucial for justice – Higgins

Access to legal aid is a crucial requirement of access to justice, and justice for all must lie at the very heart of any democratic society, President Michael D Higgins said in Dublin yesterday (26 February).

The president was opening FLAC’s (Free Legal Advice Centres) new head office on Upper Dorset Street in Dublin, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of its founding.

President Michael D Higgins said that a nation that aspired towards true equality could not be satisfied with a system of justice that was reliant on the earning power of those who sought to access it.

Liberty

President Higgins said that we could not accept a situation where those who could not afford to pay for justice could be more easily deprived of their liberty or the right to a fair trial.

“When the Legal Aid Board was established under the Civil Legal Aid Act of 1995, it was with the clear intention that citizens of ‘insufficient means’ would not be denied access to necessary legal services, and could legally enforce their economic, social and cultural rights,” he said.

He pointed out that those who were most vulnerable and marginalised in our society were also those citizens who were most at risk of encountering legal difficulties, and most in need of a justice system that was accessible and that operated in the best interests of all. 

Timely advice

The homeless, the poor, those with mental illness or a disability, immigrants, lone parents and those in disadvantaged communities often had problems that could be easily resolved with access to timely legal advice, he said.

“Yet, because such access is denied, and many barriers are placed between disadvantaged citizens and legal assistance, they so often escalate into situations that profoundly impact on the well-being, self-esteem and security of an individual and their family, casting long shadows and having far-reaching implications,” the president continued.

Vulnerable

“When vulnerable citizens are abandoned to navigate a complex legal system alone, they are experiencing a grave injustice – an injustice which can deprive them of an income, a roof over their head or their freedom and liberty; an injustice that can exclude them from employment or education; an injustice that can deny them access to their children or reunification with their family, and an injustice that, in so many ways, can push citizens further and further towards the margins of society,” he said.

The president said it was worrying that Irish Penal Reform Trust figures showed that the majority of those in Irish prisons had never sat a State exam, with over half having left school before the age of 15.

“It is also revealing that prisoners in Ireland are 25 times more likely to come from deprived communities, indicating a very clear link between social disadvantage and crime and punishment.

Stark

“It is striking to me, as a sociologist, how the stark difference in how families from difference classes, and their younger members in particular, envisage what society means for them.  For some, it is a future rich with possibilities.  For others it is to be a life of anticipated fear of failure.”

The president said that a spirit of generous humanity and a necessary inclusiveness had led to the establishment of FLAC 50 years ago and had seen it develop into an organisation that, today, provides legal advice and information directly through 66 clinics across the country.

In 2018, FLAC provided legal information or advice to 25,238 members of the public.

“I know that FLAC will continue to campaign and work through advocacy, casework and analysis of legal and social issues to eradicate social and economic exclusion in Irish society,” he said.

As President of Ireland, he thanked FLAC for their generous and altruistic work and outstanding contribution towards the creation of a fairer and more just society.

Pro bono work

In particular, he acknowledged the hundreds of volunteer lawyers who work pro bono at FLAC clinics: “Can there be any better way of giving delivery of your professional competence than to make it available to those of our citizens in need of it?” he asked.

“Your commitment and generous sharing of your time, skills and talents have had a profound impact on the lives of many, and you are all a valuable and uplifting example of participative citizenship and democracy, reminding us of all that is most hopeful in Irish society,” the president concluded. 

* See photos from the opening at https://www.lawsociety.ie/gazette/gallery-video/president-michael-d-higgins-opens-flacs-new-dublin-office/