Justice spokesperson, Doug Beattie MC MLA said, “Legal Aid is a demand-led resource. It is made available to those who need it and those who qualify for it. It is part of the access to justice programme, and without legal aid, many would not be able to access justice.

“However, concerns must be raised when the level of legal aid starts to grow to an unmanageable level with no real explanation. The latest figures show that in 2024/25 the legal aid bill for Northern Ireland was £120 million, an increase of 46% in five years. To put this in context, the legal aid bill for Scotland was £170 million, just £50 million more than in Northern Ireland, yet Scotland has nearly three times the population. This is made worse by fraud and error, which accounted for £2.8 million in 2023/24 and is expected to be similar in 2024/25.

“One of the genuine problems we face is the length of time it takes for cases to reach the courts. Some are complex, but to see cases taking two or three years, when they can be completed in months in the rest of the UK, highlights why our legal aid bill might be so high. It is also worth investigating how much of this legal aid budget is being used for legacy cases compared to current cases. This would provide a useful comparison to present to the Treasury, given the limited resources within the Department of Justice.

“It would also be useful to know which law firms make the most out of the legal aid budget. Re-establishing a league table showing this would help improve departmental scrutiny. This is something I have raised previously with the Justice Minister and the wider department.

“Finally, it would be worth understanding why 71% of all legal aid recipients are male while just 29% are female. This is a massive difference, given the demographic breakdown of the two biological sexes in Northern Ireland, and it raises questions about whether women are receiving the same level of access to justice as men.

“In the grand scheme of things, £120 million might be seen as a drop in the ocean. But reducing it, while maintaining access to justice, must be a priority for the Justice Minister. To achieve this, we must speed up justice and ensure the focus shifts from perpetrators to victims. That is something we have neglected for far too long.”