It’s a bit disconcerting that no solution has yet been found for the payment of pro-bono lawyers (see Tuesday paper). After all, the backlog goes back to January and their strike has now been going on for an entire month, with all consequences for criminal cases involving suspects who cannot afford to hire an attorney of their own.
What’s more, a new schedule for this type of representation is to go into effect per July 1, but none of the local lawyers has shown any interest. That could lead to no availability at all and practically paralyse the penal court system.
Every defendant requires proper legal assistance by law and the state has a responsibility to provide it. Using other, unlicensed practitioners such as so-called “bush lawyers” is obviously not an option, so the dispute will have to be settled at some point.
Perhaps the Justice Minister also holding the Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) portfolio played a role in terms of time to deal with this matter that is nevertheless very important. Apparently certain agreements with the former government regarding a raise were not properly executed, but then the old tariff should still be honoured.
In addition, the attorneys were willing to take 75 per cent of what is owed to them now and the rest afterwards, creating some financial breathing space. As stated in this same column on May 24, a deal needs to get done sooner rather than later.
