AG vows speed on legal aid

(CNS): If the auditor general’s report on the situation regarding legal aid is to add value to the review process, Dan Duguay said his office needs to complete it as quickly as possible. Duguay confirmed last week that he would be conducting an audit to give a better understanding of the financial situation of the current system so that, if changes were made, they would have something to compare them to. However, Duguay will be conducting his audit against a background of controversy following concerns raised by the legal profession about the government’s review, which have been dismissed by the premier.

No audit has ever been conducted of the legal aid system, a point observed by McKeeva Bush in the Legislative Assembly during the last meeting of Finance Committee for the 2009/10 budget, when he made his controversial announcement that he was going to fundamentally alter the legal aid system. Bush announced at the time that he had made the decision to cut the budget and transfer the remaining sums to a line item in his own ministry to establish a legal aid clinic.

Duguay told CNS that he and Chief Justice Anthony Smellie have established the criteria for his audit and he hopes to be able to submit draft findings at the beginning of the New Year to the Legal Aid Review Committee, which was formed recently to examine the government’s proposal to establish a specialized office, run by Steve McField and Theresa Pitcairn, to replace the current system managed by the courts.

“We are not going to decide whether the current system or the proposed legal aid clinic will be better. My office is asking if the current system works and is it fair and equitable.” He explained that if the new committee is to examine the proposal to change the system, then it needed to have a better understanding of the financial implications of how the system presently operates.

The chief justice had originally written to the premier and the governor regarding the proposals by Bush and suggested the audit. Duguay said his office agreed with the need for that and emphasised that he would be focusing on fairness and clarity. “We are looking at how those who are receiving legal aid are meeting the criteria, so we will look at how to recoup or how the decisions are made on eligibility criteria, such as how clear the policy is to interpret.”

Duguay said the other main points of his audit would be to ensure that all local lawyers who wish to take legal aid work are being given the opportunity to do so and, again, that the system is fair and equitable.

The AG will be conducting the audit against a background of controversy which has raged since Bush made the announcement that he was changing the system and moving the legal aid system from the CJ’s office and allowing McField and Pitcairn to set up an independent office.  

Following what are understood to be significant representation from the CJ, not to mention concerns from all of the legal bodies and the Human Rights Committee, the Governor’s Office intervened and told the premier that he needed to undertake a review of the system and the proposal before making the change.

Following that, a review committee chaired by Cheryl Nesblit, with Steve McField, MLA Elio Solomon, Valdis Foldats and Delene Cacho from the courts, along with Steve Moore from the Governor’s Office, was set up and told to undertake a review.

This again drew considerable controversy, since not only was there a serious conflict of interest with McField, who was set to gain from the proposals serving on the committee, there was no representation from any lawyer currently undertaking legal aid work, no one from the criminal defence bar association, and no one from the Human Rights Committee. The Law Society again wrote to the governor raising its concerns and nominating two possible candidates from the legal profession – Sara Collins and Lloyd Sampson to serve on the committee, which was roundly rejected by Bush.

In an e-mail sent to the Law Society from Bush, who said he had seen the letter, the premier told the organisation that, while he had “great respect” for the authors (James Bergstrom and Charles Jennings), he was not going to be pushed anymore on the issue. He said that any one on the committee would have as “much conflict”, if any existed, as McField.

“I think that the committee now needs to proceed with its work to come up with the best solution for a new system to administer legal aid,” Bush wrote. “Please gentlemen, we need to get on with the work.” He also told the Law Society that government had to have an elected representative on the committee as it was government which had to come up with the money to fund the legal aid system.