A review of the legal aid system has been welcomed by the society representing the island’s lawyers.
Law Society president Tim Swift said the group welcomes news that the review of the provision of legal aid in the island now has as its overarching principle access to justice and quality of services as indicated by Mr Cannan.
MrSwift said: ’Since the initial review of the provision of legal aid and representation in criminal matters the Law Society has emphasised that these principles are central.
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’We are pleased that the Treasury have now confirmed this approach.
’The extension of the review to civil legal aid was anticipated and the Law Society will engage fully with it.
’Naturally financial considerations are a major factor in relation to legal aid but we do not want to go the way of England and Wales where the justice system and access to justice is creaking at its seams.
’The people of the Isle of Man deserve better than that.
’I note that reference has been made to an expenditure of £3.8 million per annum on legal aid as an average over the last five years.
’This figure of course includes expenditures on the government administration of the scheme, court fees and payments made by advocates to experts and others in cases. It also includes VAT, which is of course a source of government income. It is not all money in the pockets of lawyer!.
The Law Society will continue with the promotion of the interests of the public in relation to the provision of legal services.’
As reported lastmonth, Mr Cannan told Tynwald: ’A fundamental cornerstone of our society is the over-arching principle of access to justice, which both criminal and civil legal aid sit under.
’The first phase of this project is now firmly under way and we expect a public consultation on criminal legal aid to start this spring. It would seem pragmatic to undertake a concurrent review of both criminal and civil legal aid in the Isle of Man as a number of functions and processes are inextricably linked.’
The consultation is set to take place between February and April. Nothing had been decided yet, Mr Cannan insisted. ’No decisions will be made on the future delivery of criminal or civil legal aid until a comprehensive and inclusive consultation process has taken place and stakeholder responses have been fully considered.’
Similarly, he said, no decision had been made on the possibility of creating a public defender scheme, which formed part of the same review. The review was instigated initially under the auspices of the government’s SAVE programme (securing added value and efficiencies).