Legal Aid Board

Information

The Civil Legal Aid Act, 1995, created a new Legal Aid Board. The functions of the Board are:

• To provide legal aid and legal advice in civil cases (i.e., non-criminal cases) to people who meet the criteria.
• To provide information about its services.

This Board consists of a chairperson and twelve other members. At least five of the members of the Board must be women and five must be men. Two members of the Board must be barristers, two must be solicitors and two must be members of the staff of the Board.

The Board has a chief executive and a staff consisting of some 270 people located in Legal Aid Centres throughout Ireland, many of whom are solicitors. If a barrister is required to deal with your case, the Legal Aid Board will appoint one to represent you. The Board has also established a panel of solicitors and barristers in private practice who provide legal aid and advice under the Act.

The Board must publish an annual report of its activities. You can view the 2006 annual report for the Legal Aid Board (pdf) here.

In February 1999, the Board established the Refugee Legal Service (RLS) as a separate office to provide a professional and independent legal service to asylum seekers at all stages of the asylum process. In 2006, the RLS provided services to 2,980 new asylum seekers.

From November 2011, the Family Mediation Service has been transferred to the Legal Aid Board.