S.I. No. 368/1981 - Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) (Amendment) Regulations, 1981.

I, JIM MITCHELL, Minister for Justice, in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 10 of the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act, 1962 (No. 12 of 1962), and in so far as these regulations are in relation to rates or scales of payment of fees, costs or expenses payable out of moneys provided by the Oireachtas pursuant to certificates for free legal aid, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, hereby make the following regulations:

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) (Amendment) Regulations, 1981.

(2) The Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Regulations, 1965 to 1979, and these Regulations may be cited together as the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Regulations, 1965 to 1981.

2. These Regulations shall be deemed to have come into operation on the 26th day of August, 1981.

3. The Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) (Amendment) Regulations, 1975 ( S.I. No. 100 of 1975 ), are hereby amended by the substitution of the following Regulation for Regulation 7 (inserted by Regulation 3 of the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) (Amendment) Regulations, 1979 ( S.I. No. 357 of 1979 )):

“7. Where, in connection with a case or cases in relation to which a solicitor has been assigned pursuant to a certificate or certificates for free legal aid, it is essential for a solicitor to visit a prison or other custodial centre (other than a Garda Station), there shall be paid under the Act a fee of £18.11 in respect of each such visit together with travelling expenses actually and necessarily incurred as follows:

(a) in case the solicitor makes the whole journey in his own motor-car, a sum calculated at the rate of 30p per mile of the journey, and

(b) in any other case, a sum equal to whichever of the following is the lesser—

(i) the actual cost of the journey, or

(ii) the cost of the journey by public transport and (to the extent (if any) that public transport is not available) hired car, or if no public transport is available for the journey, hired car.”

4. The Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) (Amendment) Regulations, 1978 ( S.I. No. 33 of 1978 ), are hereby amended by the substitution of the following subparagraph for subparagraph (a) of Regulation 3(2) (inserted by Regulation 2 of the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) (Amendment) Regulations, 1979)):

“(a) The fees (payable under the Act) of a solicitor assigned in relation to a case in the District Court or an appeal to the Circuit Court in pursuance of a certificate for free legal aid shall be £34.93 together with, if the hearing lasts for more than one day, a fee of £15.53 for each day or part of a day after the first for which the hearing lasts and for which the solicitor attends the hearing.”

5. The Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Regulations, 1965 ( S.I. No. 12 of 1965 ), are hereby amended by the substitution of the following clause for clause (i) (inserted by the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) (Amendment) Regulations, 1979) of Regulation 11(3)(a):

“(i) in case the solicitor makes the whole journey in his own motor car, a sum calculated at the rate of 30p per mile of the journey shall be paid, and”.

The Minister for Finance hereby consents to the making of the foregoing Regulations in so far as they are in relation to rates or scales of payment of fees, costs or expenses.

EXPLANATORY NOTE.

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These Regulations provide for increases of 12½% in the legal aid fees payable to solicitors in respect of attendances in the District Court and for visits to prisons and other custodial centres as well as for an increase in the motor mileage allowance from 21p to 30p per mile.