Ensuring Equal Access to Justice for All

The 2023 FLAC (Free Legal Advice Centres) Annual Report highlights the importance of ensuring access to justice, with transformative outcomes in pivotal areas of law, policy reform, and public legal assistance. FLAC continues to provide vital services through telephone lines, legal advice clinics, and specialised programs, such as those assisting the Roma and Traveller communities. FLAC's Telephone Information and Referral Line responded to over 12,000 queries, with family and employment law making up nearly half of the requests. This service exemplifies the significant unmet legal needs in Ireland, particularly as 52,000 calls went unanswered due to resource limitations.

FLAC's preventative work remained crucial in 2023, with 3,273 legal advice consultations delivered across more than 1,000 clinics. Family law and employment law dominated the consultations, with increasing numbers of individuals seeking guidance on domestic violence, maintenance, and employment grievances. Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA) facilitated pro bono legal support to 51 NGOs, community organisations, and social justice entities in 2023. In particular, the Ukraine Legal Clinic was launched, offering legal aid to over 100 Ukrainian nationals in Ireland, addressing issues such as immigration, social welfare, and family law. FLAC's work with the Roma and Traveller communities led to the first Irish court ruling that confirmed race-based discrimination against Roma individuals in retail. Through the Roma Legal Clinic and Traveller Legal Service, systemic discrimination, housing inadequacies, and social welfare challenges continues to be addressed.

Legal Supports and Access to Justice

Access to justice is a basic human right, however in order to achieve equality of access, there must be a balance of power on both sides. In a legal context, the balance of power almost always rests with those who can afford counsel. Redressing this balance requires the availability of free and low-cost legal services to those who need the advice of a qualified solicitor or barrister but who cannot afford the costs associated with it.

Organisations such as FLAC, the Legal Aid Board and CLM provide such valuable services and must be adequately resourced to do so. Social Justice Ireland believes that access to justice is such a fundamental human right that it should not be dependent on well-intentioned volunteers dealing with a range of legal topics in twenty minute increments and calls on Government to ensure that people’s rights are protected and dignity respected in this most fundamental way, by adequate access to justice through the court system.