The cases piled up in the Supreme Court when the lawyers campaigned against the level of legal aid rates in 2021. That is what the state pays when citizens are entitled to legal aid. Only after more than half a year of strike did the lawyers and the government agree on an agreement. An independent council, the Salærrådet, was set up, which was to come up with a recommendation on what level the rates should be. But now there will be new actions because the government has broken the agreement, says leader of the Bar Association, Jon Wessel-Aas. – We had an agreement on an increase in the rate. We also received a recommendation from the independent council, which they have not considered. They have had several state budgets to rectify this, but they have not done so. This is simply a breach of contract. Going on strike On Monday, the community lawyers will go on strike. These are lawyers who are pointed out by the public on behalf of suspects or outsiders who do not know that they can be eavesdropped or monitored. Such lawyers are essential when PST, E-tenesta or the police ask to monitor certain persons. – These are assignments that the lawyers are not obliged to take on, but that the state has provided that someone is willing to take on. We want to show that one must ensure that the payment is proper. There is a great desire to strike among the lawyers, says Wessel-Aas. Photo: Truls Alnes Antonsen / news This means that the court cannot give the police permission to monitor or eavesdrop as long as the action continues. – It will affect the work, but this is a consequence of the system which expects our members to say yes. But when the government breaks its promise, and does not deliver on increased investment, they cannot wait for us to stand up. The recommendation from the Salærrådet for 2024 was that legal aid rates should be around NOK 1,464 per hour at the start of the year. The government proposed to increase the rate to NOK 1,215 in the proposal for the state budget for 2024. Difficulties for PST For PST and E-tenesta, wiretapping and monitoring are important tools in the investigation of cases. The strike causes them to have consequences for their work, admits senior advisor Eirik Veum in PST to news. – PST can confirm that we are aware that a strike has been announced. The consequences are that requests from us concerning the use of coercive measures in graded cases will not be processed in the district court. – Is it unfortunate? – Beyond this, PST has no further comments. Senior adviser in PST, Eirik Veum. Photo: Marius Christensen / news E-tenesta has so far not responded to news’s request for comments. Wessel-Aas says there is a great desire to strike among the lawyers, and that it may be relevant to step up if they do not get approval from the Ministry of Justice. – It is absolutely relevant to step up. But I hope we avoid doing that. But it is entirely up to the government to resolve this. Hard priorities Justice and emergency preparedness minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) thinks it is serious that the lawyers are now campaigning in this way, but says that both the government and the lawyers must stick to what comes in the state budget. – There are many issues that we are unable to cover in each state budget. That is why we have to prioritize hard. We have meant to give more priority to the lawyers until they have not been important enough compared to strengthening the defense and the courts, which we have prioritized this year. Justice and Emergency Services Minister Emilie Enger Mehl (Sp) denies that they have broken the agreement the government made with the Bar Association in 2022. Photo: Javad Parsa / NTB She does not agree that the government has broken the agreement they entered into in connection with the previous lawyers’ strike. – We have been clear all along that the agreement did not exempt the government from following our budget and financial regulations. We cannot give guarantees for permits in this way until now. The state budget is adopted by the Storting.
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Lawyers strike in protest against low legal aid rates – news Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country
