Rape, sexual assault court cases disrupted over legal aid dispute | RTÉ News

Around half of the rape and sexual assault cases due to go on trial at the Central Criminal Court in Dublin today have been disrupted due to the dispute between solicitors and the Minister for Justice.A majority of solicitors working in criminal legal aid across the country have been in dispute with Jim O'Callaghan since a new €520 flat-fee payment for legal aid cases was introduced in July.They have been refusing to act in cases where defendants are on bail, leading to significant backlogs beginning to grow, especially in Dublin.The solicitors have withdrawn their services from cases involving people on bail since July, but have now said they are withdrawing from custody cases and cases involving children.However, some are working under the new system and some cases are going on.For more on this story and all the latest Irish and international news - http://www.rte.ie/newsThanks for watching and don't forget to subscribe.