XN000022-1982-03-02 — Page 10

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1982

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THESE FIGURES REFLECT BOTH THE IMPORTANCE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE LEGAL AID SCHEME AND AN INCREASING AWARENESS BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC OF THE SERVICES AVAILABLE TO THEM. THEY ARE ALSO TESTIMONY OF THE GOVERNMENT'S COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE LEGAL AID FREE OR, DEPENDING ON THE FINANCIAL SITUATION OF THE CLIENT, AT LIMITED COST TO THE AIDED RECIPIENT, SAID MR BRIAN CLANCY WHO TOOK OVER AS DIRECTOR OF THE LEGAL AID DEPARTMENT LAST MARCH.

APPLICANTS FOR LEGAL AID IN CIVIL CASES ARE INTERVIEWED BY A DEPARTMENT LAWYER WHO EXAMINES THE MERITS OF ANY APPLICATION TO SEE WHETHER AID SHOULD BE GRANTED. ADDITIONALLY, APPLICANTS MUST COME WITHIN THE FINANCIAL LIMITS OF A MAXIMUM DISPOSABLE INCOME OF $1 000 PER MONTH (AFTER DEDUCTION OF CERTAIN ALLOWANCES FOR THE APPLICANT AND HIS DEPENDANTS, AND RENT) AND A DISPOSABLE CAPITAL OF NOT MORE THAN $10 000 (EXCLUDING CERTAIN ALLOWANCES). IN CRIMINAL CASES, THE FINANCIAL LIMIT IN RESPECT OF DISPOSABLE INCOME IS $1 500 PER MONTH.

THE CURRENT LIMITS HAVE BEEN IN EFFECT SINCE 1977 +BUT THEY AND THE ALLOWANCES MADE FOR CALCULATING THE DISPOSABLE INCOMES AND CAPITAL RESOURCES OF APPLICANTS ARE REVIEWED FROM TIME TO TIME, TAKING INTO ACCOUNT INFLATION AND COMPARABLE SALARY INCREASES, AS THESE FACTORS COULD QUITE SUDDENLY DISQUALIFY AN APPLICANT FOR AID, MR CLANCY SAID.

*THE SIZE OF THE ANNUAL RISE IN APPLICATIONS TENDS TO DECREASE AS INCREASES IN INCOME THROUGH INFLATION MAKE LESS APPLICANTS ELIGIBLE UNDER THE MEANS TEST. WHEN THESE LIMITS ARE RAISED, THERE IS ALWAYS A SHARP INCREASE IN THE NUMBER OF APPLICANTS AND, OF COURSE IN THE NUMBER OF CASES WHERE LEGAL AID IS GRANTED WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN REFUSED UNDER THE OLD LIMITS,+ MR CLANCY ADDED.

IN SPITE OF PERIODICAL ADJUSTMENTS OF THE MEANS TEST, HE SAID, THERE WOULD ALWAYS BE SOME PEOPLE WHO, THOUGH EARNING ABOVE THE FINANCIAL LIMITS FOR LEGAL AID APPLICANTS, ARE EQUALLY DESERVING OF ASSISTANCE BECAUSE THEY STILL WOULD NOT HAVE ENOUGH FINANCIAL RESOURCES TO UNDERTAKE A COSTLY BUT NECESSARY HIGH COURT ACTION.

+ IT IS FOR THIS REASON THAT HAVE MADE IT ONE OF MY LONG- TERM GOALS TO SET UP A 'CONTINGENCY LEGAL AID FUND'. UNDER THIS SCHEME, IF IT IS ADOPTED, PEOPLE EARNING ABOVE THE FINANCIAL LIMITS MAY OBTAIN LEGAL AID ON A PROMISE TO DONATE A PERCENTAGE OF THEIR DAMAGES/COMPENSATION RECOVERED IN A SUCCESSFUL ACTION TO THE FUND TO BE USED TO HELP COVER THE COSTS OF OTHERS IN THE SAME SITUATION AS HIMSELF, HE SAID.

THIS IDEA IS NOW BEING STUDIED BY A COMMITTEE CHAIRED BY MR CLANCY, COMPRISING MEMBERS FROM THE LEGAL AID DEPARTMENT, THE LEGAL DEPARTMENT, THE JUDICIARY, THE BAR ASSOCIATION AND THE LAW SOCIETY,

AN INDICATION OF THE SUCCESS OF THE SCHEME AS A WHOLE IS THAT IN 1981 A TOTAL OF $30.4 MILLION WAS RECOVERED BY BOTH THE LEGAL AID DEPARTMENT AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR ON BEHALF OF LEGALLY AIDED CLIENTS.

/APPLICATIONS FOR

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