Unhappy with the compensation awarded for legal aid cases, Quebec defense lawyers will be on strike Monday and Tuesday. For them, this is a means of pressure aimed at obtaining a “major reform of tariffs and tariff structures” in legal aid.
Posted at 6:25 p.m.
In Quebec, a lawyer in private practice who endorses a legal aid file receives a fixed salary ranging from $415 to $600. The latter therefore demand a “massive reinvestment in the justice system” for this type of case, which represents “75% of all authorized criminal files”.
“Wages are so low that it has a negative impact”, denounces Me Élizabeth Ménard, President of the Association of Defense Lawyers of Montreal (AADM). ” Access to justice for the most vulnerable people in society is diminishing because lawyers are abandoning legal aid. »
For her, the increase in remuneration for lawyers in a context of legal aid would help restore a certain attractiveness to this type of case. This would help more people in need.
Another source of irritation: the amount paid to the lawyer remains the same, regardless of the length of the legal process. A “paradoxical and aberrant” mode of operation, according to the lawyer.
“It can last up to 30 months, but it doesn’t make a difference either if I plead guilty from the start,” she explains. So you understand that encourages quick guilty pleas. »
Call for a “change of ideology”
The last major reform of the legal aid fee structure dates back to 1996. Me Élizabeth Ménard does not mince her words: she calls for a “change of ideology with regard to legal aid” from the Department of Justice.
It is not normal that we have a two-tier justice system, one for the poor and the other for the rich.
Me Élizabeth Ménard, President of the AADM
To be heard, defense lawyers have been boycotting since June 20 all cases concerning sexual assault or domestic violence. Me Ménard is aware that this contributes to the problem she is fighting, but considers that this “pressure tactic” is “necessary” for the implementation of a new reform.
Me Élizabeth Ménard has “no amount in mind”, but she wants the government to offer them “significantly higher” remuneration. If no action is taken, she warns, the AADM will hold a vote to put all legal aid requests on hold at its next meeting, on July 6.
The Department of Justice did not respond to The Press at the time of publishing.