Justice Minister To Reform Legal Aid

Justice Minister David Ford has signalled his intention to fundamentally reform legal aid services in Northern Ireland.

Organisations like Citizens Advice and the Law Centre could be funded from the public purse for legal services they provide to clients under the radical shake-up.

In a wide-ranging speech to an invited audience in Castle Buildings, the Minister set out his vision for a future justice system capable of delivering for the people of Northern Ireland.

Mr Ford said that devolution on 12 April gave politicians a once in a generation opportunity to reshape the justice system and urged others to work in partnership with him to make it a reality.

He said: "If devolution of policing and justice means anything, it means that the minister is accountable to the Assembly and the public, closer to the ground and better able to respond to the community's concerns.

"But as Justice Minister, I am determined that this level of scrutiny and accountability will not lead to a conservative, play safe 'do the minimum necessary' approach. We have problems in our justice system and in the wider community and for these problems we must, and will, find solutions," he said.

"One area where local solutions can be found is in legal aid. I am already bringing forward a range of reforms on legal aid expenditure but I also want to extend this to help people secure access to justice.

"Simply reducing the cost of the current legal aid system would be a missed opportunity. For many years, the operation of the legal aid system in Northern Ireland, has developed in tandem with the system in England and Wales," the Alliance party MLA continued.

"But devolution provides the opportunity, for the first time in a political generation, to decide how best to help people secure access to justice in Northern Ireland. That is why I intend to undertake a fundamental review of Public Legal Services in Northern Ireland.

"We need a system that puts much greater emphasis on finding solutions to problems outside court and less emphasis on fighting cases inside court. And we should provide a much wider choice in the sources of legal help available to those in need. I want to 'bring the law to the people' through advice centres and legal clinics," he said.

"You only have to look at the excellent work being done by Citizens Advice, Advice NI and the Law Centre to see what I have in mind."

The Minister also confirmed that he is pressing ahead with a consultation on sentencing guidelines mechanisms to establish a clearer, transparent and more consistent framework for sentencing.

He revealed that later this month he will announce the membership of the panel to lead the review of prisons, starting at Maghaberry, and that he intends to start discussions with the First Minister and Deputy First Minister on whether the relationship the law sets down between the new Attorney General and the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) needs to be looked at again.

Meanwhile, the Prison Service Director General Robin Masefield has announced plans for filling the Governor in Charge post at Maghaberry Prison.

He said last week they will run open competitions as soon as practicable, later this year, for the post of Governor in Charge at Maghaberry, and also for the post of Deputy Governor. It will be open to Governors with relevant experience from within the Northern Ireland Prison Service and outside.

In an interim move at senior management level to help take forward the agenda at Maghaberry Prison, Alan Craig, who has been acting as Governor since December last year, will return to headquarters as the Deputy Director of Operations and Patrick Maguire, who had previously governed Maghaberry from 2002 to 2005, has been appointed as Governor of Maghaberry and will take up post by the end of June.

(BMcC/GK)