THE MINISTRY of Justice says it owes more than $40 million to lawyers volunteering their services to the Legal Aid Council.
"At September 30 we were at $43 million in arrears," Carol Palmer, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Justice, said at a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) on Tuesday. She was responding to questions posed by parliamentarian and PAC member Delroy Chuck.
According to Mrs. Palmer, just about a quarter of the money owed was accumulated during the current financial year. The Ministry, she explained, had carried forward a $30 million debt from the end of the 2002/2003 financial year. The rest were new liabilities incurred this year.
INABILITY TO PAY
But despite the revelation, Mrs. Palmer attempted to quash concerns about the possible effect the Government's inability to pay could have on the willingness of lawyers to participate in the programme.
"There is a mood of understanding amongst our attorneys who serve in legal aid that, in fact, we probably will never be able to fully pay them at any one point at this time."
She said the Justice Ministry attempts to consistently pay lawyers at least a percentage of what they are owed.
"Once they are in receipt of a payment they are not as bothered as when there are no funds being turned over to them," she added.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Palmer also addressed concerns raised by Opposition Member of Parliament Mike Henry, about the experience of lawyers volunteering for the programme, which seeks to assist persons charged with crimes and unable to afford their own defence.
"I think there is a reasonable spread of levels of attorney in the legal aid regime," she said.
FREE ROSTER
Adding that there was no limit to the number of attorneys who can participate, she told the PAC that there is a "free roster and it is not populated by young attorneys." It was noted that all lawyers must have at least two years experience to volunteer with the Legal Aid Council.
According to the Council, there are two categories of lawyers, senior counsel, that is, lawyers with, at least 10 years experience, and junior counsel.
For each capital murder case in the Circuit Court, senior counsels receive a fee of $60,000 while junior counsels receive $40,000. For non-capital murder, seniors receive $45,000 while juniors receive $30,000. For all other cases, seniors get $40,000, and juniors $30,000.
For each case in the Resident Magistrate's courts, all lawyers receive $15,000. Senior counsels receive $30,000 for murder appeals and juniors receive $20,000. For preliminary enquiries, seniors receive $20,000 while juniors receive $15,000.
