Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas criticises proposal to cut Legal Aid in UK

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The Irish Council for Prisoners Overseas has expressed serious concerns about proposals by the UK Ministry of Justice to cut legal aid for prison law cases. The ICPO, established by the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference in 1985, is concerned that these proposals, if implemented, will mean that Irish prisoners will no longer be eligible to receive legal aid to challenge their treatment in UK prisons.

Joanna Joyce, Coordinator of the ICPO in Ireland, said: "Working with almost 1,000 Irish prisoners in the UK, we are extremely concerned about the effect these proposals will have on our clients. Prisoners, including those with learning disabilities and mental health issues, will no longer have access to legal aid to address grievances about their treatment that cannot be addressed through the internal prison requests and complaints system."

Fr Gerry McFlynn, Project Manager of the ICPO London office, said: "The massive cuts to legal aid fees for prison law work will mean that prisoners will probably be represented by inexperienced clerks while lawyers with years of experience will quickly disappear from the scene. These 'reforms' will destroy prison law as we have known it and result in the vast majority of prisoners being without good quality legal representation in the future."

Fr McFlynn concluded: "The proposed cuts in funding will make life even more difficult for Irish prisoners and will have potentially disastrous consequences for prisoners, their families and society as a whole."

 For more information see: www.irishchaplaincy.org.uk/Groups/160591/Irish_Chaplaincy_in/Our_Work/Irish_Prisoners/Irish_Prisoners.aspx