Legal fees will only be reduced if the measures proposed by the working group on legal costs are properly resourced, according to the chairman of the Bar Council.
Hugh Mohan was commenting on the publication of a report by the group, which was chaired by Paul Haran, former secretary general at the Department of Enterprise and Employment.
It proposed the replacement of the High Court Taxing Masters' office by a new regulatory body that would lay down guidelines for legal fees based on a measurement of actual work done. There would be some flexibility in the system in that the fees could be increased if this was justified by the number of appropriate hours worked, the complexity of the case or the level of the court where the case was heard. It also proposed ending where junior counsel automatically receives two-thirds of the fees of the senior counsel in the case irrespective of the work done.
Mr Mohan welcomed the report, but warned that the proposals would not work unless the regulatory body was adequately resourced, and new rules of court introduced to allow the courts to supervise the pace of litigation and minimise delays. It would also be necessary to have more judges and support staff.
"This is a step in the right direction which will ultimately lower the cost of litigation. We are delighted to see a lot of what we proposed is in the report."He added that the Bar Council also welcomed other reforms announced by the Minister for Justice, especially the establishment of a Legal Services Ombudsman, which the council had proposed. He said both the disciplinary committee of the Bar Council and its appeal committee would have a majority of lay people as members and lay chairpeople.
Fine Gael spokesman on justice Jim O'Keeffe also welcomed the proposals, but added that an overhaul of court sitting hours was necessary. "There is still an urgent need for a fundamental look at the issue of court costs, as well as the ridiculous sitting hours for courts. Court sittings do not usually start until mid-morning and have excessively long vacations."