Northern Ireland legal aid reform proposed
A reform of the Northern Ireland legal aid system has been proposed by Justice Minister David Ford that would see defendants deemed to be of 'sufficient means' having to pay back the costs for their legal representation upon conviction.
Mr Ford assured that the proposal would only target those people who are sufficiently wealthy to afford their own legal representation, and that legal aid would still be available to those who genuinely cannot afford to pay. The Justice Minister said he was "determined to reduce spending where possible" in order to tackle the legal aid bill in Northern Ireland, which is one of the highest in the whole of the UK.
Previous announcements by Mr Ford in respect of cutting the legal aid budget attracted much criticism by criminal solicitors throughout Northern Ireland who said it would compromise the quality of legal representation that defendants would receive.
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