Minister Simon Harris keynote speech to the conference - Civil Legal Aid Review: An Opportunity to develop a model system in Ireland

“Breaking down barriers, building access to justice for all”

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Good morning everyone and thank you for having me here today.

Thanks in particular to Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell, and his colleagues on the Access to Justice Working Group for inviting me to join you.

I am very much looking forward to hearing about the insights, ideas and actions to come out of the next two days’ engagement. The programme for the conference is certainly expansive, and will be of huge benefit, I’m sure, to the Civil Legal Aid Review.

It’s a privilege to be here today among all those of you who work at the frontline of civil and family justice.

I thank you, sincerely, for all that you do to vindicate and uphold the rights of those you represent and serve.

Events like this are an important opportunity to come together and explore how we can make the system better for everyone. So thank you for making the time to be here today.

It is vital that fair and equal access to justice is a reality for everyone – not just those with the privilege of means or education.

To that end, I would like to share with you some of the actions I am prioritising during my time as Minister for Justice.

Right now, the civil legal aid system is, in theory, the way in which people on lower incomes can access legal support to resolve disputes, primarily those relating to family issues such as divorce, separation, child custody and maintenance. Both the Legal Aid Board, since 1979, and the Civil Legal Aid Act of 1995 have served the public well.

The staff and panels of the Legal Aid Board do their best to advise and represent many thousands of people every year and I’m told that over 50% of those seeking advice can access it reasonably quickly, especially for those issues relating to children.

However, there are also many people who simply do not come within the scope of the current scheme. I am also conscious that when people are vulnerable they may have complex needs and multiple legal issues.

In the 44 years since 1979, our society has grown and changed significantly. Rights have evolved and laws have developed. In response to all these changes, and in response to calls from successive Boards, the government committed to undertaking a historic, independent review of the Civil Legal Aid Scheme and I’m pleased that the former Chief Justice Frank Clarke, agreed to oversee the Review.

As Frank is speaking next, I’ll leave it to him speak in detail about the review and the work he and his fellow members are undertaking.

However, I would like to mention that the Group have extended the deadline for inputs to the public consultation. So, I encourage any organisation represented here today who have not yet made a submission to do so as soon as possible.

In order to provide effective access to justice, we must understand the challenges faced by those who engage with our systems.

I am conscious that the room is full of lawyers, and I’m also conscious that a proportion of disputes will only be resolved in court. But I do hope that through this process that proportion will be made smaller - by increased understanding and use of mediation and other alternative dispute resolution methods in this space.

This is especially true in family situations, or indeed a dispute within a business, where people often need to maintain an ongoing relationship with the other party.

This would complement the approach of the first Family Justice Strategy published by my colleague, Minister Helen McEntee, last autumn.

The Strategy sets out a clear vision for a coordinated, consistent and user-focused family justice system, which helps children and families obtain earlier, appropriate resolutions in a more effective way. It aims to achieve this through the implementation of over 50 actions across nine goals.

The Strategy is foundational in nature, recognising the many issues that currently exist within the family justice system, but outlining the steps needed to move towards a better, more user-friendly system.

I know the development of the Strategy was informed by the work and submissions of many of you here today, and I know your ongoing input will be crucial to success as the actions are implemented over the next three years.

There are many goals in the Strategy that I could emphasise here this morning, but the first – Supporting Children – is one which I think is particularly critical. It contains a number of actions which stress the importance of children in the family justice system. The best interests of each child must be heard and considered - articulated by children themselves. Children must be supported through their own journey, rather than simply being some passive observer of a dispute which impacts them.

In short, children must be central to the process which will impact the rest of their lives. To make the family justice system less adversarial, the Strategy also seeks to promote greater use of alternatives to litigation. It emphasises the importance of promoting more co-operative means for people to resolve disputes.

There are a number of actions to further this goal, including increasing greater awareness of, and information about, Alternative Dispute Resolution, ensuring court processes provide opportunities for parties to access ADR at different stages of their cases, and establishing a private panel of family mediators to support existing provision by the Legal Aid Board.

In step with this approach, the Family Courts Bill 2022 encourage alternatives to litigation as part of its guiding principles.

But recognising that some disputes will need recourse to court, the Bill will create a new dedicated family court, within the existing courts structure, where Family Court judges with specialist training will be assigned on a full-time basis.

Ongoing professional training in the area of family law will be required for these judges. The training will, also, focus on non-court solutions where appropriate. The Bill is progressing well. After publication December last, the Bill passed second stage in the Seanad earlier this month. With the cooperation of the Houses of the Oireachtas, I look forward to bringing this Bill forward over the coming months.

There are a range of other measures underway to support the delivery of system-wide reform, not least the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill which I intend to bring to enactment this year.

The ongoing modernisation programme in the Courts Service is funded to deliver on its huge potential and the forthcoming development of the Hammond Lane Complex in Dublin will be a modern facility where family law cases can be held in a dignified, secure and non-threatening environment – with a range of support services at hand.

The creation of new court divisions, and Ireland’s shifting demographics, pose fundamental questions in relation to how our courts function and how timely access to justice can be delivered.

The Judicial Planning Working Group, which was established by my department in 2021, was set up to bring a more strategic focus to judicial recruitment. Its role was to consider the number and type of judges required to ensure the efficient administration of justice over the next five years.

To help inform the work, the OECD was commissioned to prepare an independent review of judicial resource needs, which has been published by the OECD and is available on their website.

I am very pleased to have received government approval this week to publish the Working Group’s report and to introduce the first phase of large-scale reform of Ireland’s judicial resourcing. I’m sure you are all eager to read the report, but allow me to share with you some of the key recommendations.

The report has highlighted an acute need for additional judges. The Group recommends that the judiciary should be expanded in two phases of appointments - 24 additional judges in the first phase and 20 additional judges in a second, later, phase. And I was very pleased to receive the support of my government colleagues for this important recommendation.

Phase 1 will increase the number of judges by 24 – an additional eight judges in each of the District and Circuit Courts, six additional judges in the High Court and two in the Court of Appeal.

The plan for Phase 2 is that a further increase of 20 additional judges will be considered following an assessment of the impact of the first phase. Overall, this means an increase in the number of judges from the current total of 173 to 217.

I welcome the very considered, iterative approach adopted in the Group’s recommendation. Before proceeding with Phase 2, there is to be an impact assessment, tracked against key milestones in the Change Programme.

The Report highlights the importance of developing a structured system for planning and deploying judicial resources.

Both the Working Group and the OECD have highlighted the need for extensive data collection and management and pointed out the potential benefits of a substantial programme of change and improvement initiatives.

I look forward to supporting the judiciary and the Courts Service as we move forward with this momentous period of growth and reform.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the members of the Judicial Planning Working Group, chaired by the distinguished former Secretary General of the Department of Education, Ms Brigid McManus, for all their dedication and hard work over the last two years.

As I mentioned a few moments ago, one of the government’s goals is, to make access to justice quicker, easier and cheaper. Reforming our judiciary and justice systems are part of that, but we must also focus on the day-to-day practice of civil law.

Last May, Minister McEntee published the Civil Justice Efficiencies and Reform Plan for implementing the 90 recommendations made by in Judge Peter Kelly’s seminal report - a document which maps out how the most significant reform to civil law in the history of the State will be achieved.

These reforms include tackling the high cost of litigation and extended time-frames involved in legal cases.

They also include simplifying the language used in the Rules of Court and harnessing digital technology, all with a view to making civil justice services accessible and affordable to anyone who needs them.

The reforms will not only help those who need legal services. They will also help legal professionals, the Courts Service and the judiciary do their best work and be future facing in how they approach their duties.

An implementation group, chaired by my department, is already up and running. This group will ensure that implementation takes place on a phased basis and provide progress reports to Government annually.

I’ve mentioned Courts Modernisation a few times and this is part of my department’s ambition to support and drive modernisation and digitisation across the entire Justice sector.

The Courts Service 10-year Modernisation Programme will deliver a new operating model for the Service – designed around the user and delivered through digital solutions.

I’m glad to see that significant progress has already been made. For example, the Courts Service invested over €2.2 million to increase the number of technology-enabled courtrooms from 55 in 2020 to 118 at the end of 2022.

These courtrooms support remote and hybrid hearings, allowing parties, witnesses, prisoners or police to dial in to a physical courtroom and support digital evidence display.

A further investment of €3.1 million was put in place last year to support a new three-year programme to provide 54 more technology-enabled courtrooms.

Not only do these facilities increase efficiencies and reduce costs, they also allow vulnerable witnesses to give evidence without fear of intimidation. This is a simple, but effective step taken to ensure that the justice system is more empathetic and less adversarial. It is also emblematic of the system we are all working to put in place – one which works for those it serves.

When I look around me at the people in this room, I see a group of people with the power to do tremendous good and to make people’s lives better.

All of the reforms we are working on together will not be possible without your skill, commitment and dedication.

The success of our work will be measured by the ease with which the most vulnerable in our society seek and access justice.

Given the breadth of the reform measures I have outlined today, I think there is cause for optimism that the years ahead will see us improve our performance on this key measure.

But doing so will require the ongoing support of everyone in this room and across the wider sector.

Our ambition must be to continue to break down barriers wherever they exist.

And to build a path for all to access the justice they need.