Legal Aid Board

(1) Legal Aid
(2) Role of the Legal Aid Board
(3) What you can expect from the Legal Aid Board
(4) Our Services
(5) If we do not meet your expectations
(6) How to contact us

Legal aid can help you if you cannot afford to pay for a solicitor privately yourself. Legal aid can provide for legal advice through a solicitor and representation by a solicitor or barrister in court.

Criminal legal aid and civil legal aid are separate services.

When a person has been charged with a criminal offence and is due to appear in court, they can apply to the judge for criminal legal aid which can be granted by the Courts. If you have a query about criminal legal aid in a particular case you should contact the Clerk or Registrar at the court which is dealing with the criminal case.

It is the Legal Aid Board which provides civil legal aid in matters dealt with in the civil courts including in the area of family law and domestic violence. Civil matters usually involve disputes between you and another person, or between you and an organisation.

The Legal Aid Board gives legal aid and advice about the law in civil cases to people who cannot afford to pay a solicitor themselves. Most of our work is in the area of family law and domestic violence. There are special arrangements for helping victims in rape and other serious sexual assaults whose cases are going to court, and also special arrangements for suspected victims of human trafficking.

We deliver our services through a network of full-time and part-time law centres located throughout the country. These centres are staffed by our solicitors. We also contract private solicitors to provide services for us.

We have a series of information leaflets about our services and the kinds of offences we cover. You can get these leaflets, as well as a list of law centres, from our website or by contacting our head office at the following address:

Legal Aid Board
Head Office
Quay Street
Cahirciveen
Co. Kerry
V23 RD36
Tel: 066- 947 1000
Website: www.legalaidboard.ie

If you qualify for our services, we will:

• give you a timely and quality service in line with our Customer Charter;
• respect and maintain your confidentiality; and
• listen to you and treat you with dignity and respect.

We have an advice service for victims of rape and other serious sexual assault whose cases are going to court.

A legal aid representation service can be also provided in certain rape and sexual offences cases where your prior sexual experience has been raised by the defence during the trial.

In these cases, the Legal Aid Board can appoint a solicitor and a barrister to represent you where the issue of your previous sexual history is being raised with the court by the legal team of the accused.

Also during a rape or other serious sexual assault case, legal representation can be provided for you in cases where an application is made to have previous counselling records considered as part of the case.

These services are free of charge for all victims.

We also provide an advice service for potential victims of human trafficking who have been identified to us by An Garda Síochána. We will give you information on:

• your status in Ireland, applying for asylum, subsidiary protection (protection for people who don’t qualify as refugees), or leave to remain in Ireland
• seeking information on employment protection legislation, for example, this might be information on the legally allowed maximum working hours or the legally required minimum break periods at work
• seeking compensation from perpetrators of trafficking and/or from the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
• information on voluntarily returning home
• what is involved if you are called as a witness in a criminal trial.

This service is free of charge for all potential victims of human trafficking.

If you have been a victim of domestic violence, you can apply for legal aid at any of our law centres, our office at Dolphin House in Dublin and online through our website; and you can apply to the District Court for a number of orders (listed below).

Board staff can help you with your application, and provide you with a solicitor to represent you at the Court hearing. You will not have to pay a contribution if you are seeking legal aid for either of the following:

• taking or defending an application in the District Court for a barring order, safety order, interim barring order, or protection order; and
• defending an application by Tusla (the Child and Family Agency) to take your children into foster care or to allow its staff to supervise your children in your own home.

Further information on the above orders is provided on the Rights & the Law page.

Overall, further information on obtaining legal aid from the Legal Aid Board is available on the Board’s website at www.legalaidboard.ie

If we do not meet your expectations and you would like to ask questions, make suggestions or make a complaint about our service, you can contact us at the details below.

Address: Complaints Officer, Legal Aid Board, 48-49 North Brunswick Street, Georges’ Lane, Dublin, D07 PE0C.

Tel: 01- 646 9600

Lo-call: 1890 615200

Fax: 01-662 3661

Website: www.legalaidboard.ie