Courthouse and custody suite closures have affected access to justice senior lawyer tells MLAs
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00:00 David and I were up at the Limavady Solicitors Association dinner last Friday night in the
00:06 Roe Valley and there were about 11 or 12 solicitors there in that association, small association.
00:13 Their court was closed over COVID, remains closed, they're not sure if it's going to
00:17 open.
00:18 Their local custody suites are closed.
00:19 They can't bring young trainee solicitors into the town because they can't afford to
00:27 bring them into small firms and train them.
00:29 The last trainee they had I think is about seven or eight years qualified and one of
00:33 them is actually now a principal in his own firm that he's taken over from his father.
00:38 So it's not just, forget about lawyers pay, this isn't just about lawyers pay.
00:42 So we've got a court there that's closed, it's a local court.
00:45 We've got a custody suite that's closed, it's a local custody suite.
00:49 So we're having a delay, simple delay.
00:53 Solicitors phone for, they don't just go to their local custody suite, they have to maybe
00:56 drive 45 minutes.
00:57 So there are police officers tied up waiting for the solicitor to come for maybe 45, 50
01:02 minutes away instead of maybe even being able to walk to the local custody suite.
01:05 You've got the local people who are appearing in the petty sessions.
01:09 Most of the people who appear in petty sessions do not have their own car, they rely on public
01:13 transport or taxis to get there.
01:15 So you look in Belfast, petty sessions, most people come and walk in.
01:19 People are then having to go to Coleraine or Derry or further afield.
01:23 So then people aren't turning up for court because they maybe don't have the money to
01:27 turn up for court.
01:28 And what happens if you don't turn up for court sometimes?
01:29 There's an arrest warrant put out for you.
01:31 So someone's ended up getting arrested simply because they can't afford to get to court.
01:37 And there's just a wee real life example.