The Department of Justice has welcomed the Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJINI) report on Criminal Legal Aid Processing, which was published today.
A spokesperson for Department of Justice said: “The Department welcomes the report’s recognition of the improvements delivered by the Legal Services Agency in processing criminal legal aid payments and the contribution which the Legal Aid Management System has made to these improvements. We also welcome recognition of the progress made in significantly reducing errors in the level of payments and improvements made to estimate the level of future expenditure.
“We recognise the importance of appropriate levels of funding to enable the Legal Services Agency to deliver prompt and predictable levels of payment for work undertaken. The Department has been liaising closely with the Law Society and Bar Council on the level of payments which the Agency can make, and has recently confirmed that it will make payments on the basis of an additional £5.3m and is working to further improve the level of funding available.”
“The report’s recommendations have all been accepted and are being implemented as part of an agreed action plan.”
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