The Legal Aid department has run out of money, and suspended payments to defence lawyers until the next budget year begins on April 1.

The situation came to light after lawyers told this newspaper they were still waiting for payments for work they've done in court.

Legal Aid pays lawyers to represent people who don't have the financial means to hire their own defence. It's believed an increased crime rate and struggling economy means more people turned to the department for help this year.

According to Will Francis, chairman of the Legal Aid Committee: "We are seeking to get all our bills paid but it does appear that because we have pretty much run out of our budget that they are waiting until the new budget year starts up.

"What has happened of course is that with so many big trials and so many multi-defendant trials, sometimes we have to pay three or four lawyers or more. And there have been so many serious cases involving Queen's Counsel, there's a lot of money involved."

Legal Aid cheques are processed by the Accountant General's department after getting the green light from Legal Aid. The payment rate is $300 per hour for Magistrates' Court work and more for Supreme Court.

Defence lawyers told The Royal Gazette that while they are continuing to do Legal Aid work, they are not happy that their payments often take a long time to come through.

Larry Scott said he sometimes waits 60 days or longer for payments, and complained: "If you don't pay your cell phone bill within 30 days you get cut off. My view is they should pay within 30 days.

"If Legal Aid doesn't pay me, I don't pay Government's payroll tax. And if I don't pay they won't give me permission to bring in a Queen's Counsel (from overseas.)"

Another defence barrister, Mark Pettingill, is still waiting for a payment submitted at the end of last year. He commented: "The Accountant General's department is where the delays occur. Legal Aid runs very smoothly but waiting for the cheques takes forever after the conclusion of the case you're doing well if you get it in six weeks."

He added: "It's not really good enough. Many defence attorneys are operating on an independent basis and rely on those funds to keep practices running or go towards your year-end budget."

Another defence lawyer, who asked for his name not to be printed, said: "A number of lawyers are placed in a very difficult position. Of course, the way forward may be for Legal Aid to give even greater scrutiny to some of the applications that come before it. On the other side, it may also be the combination of the economy together with the rise in crime. Those may well have impacted on Legal Aid."

A fourth lawyer, who also declined to have his name published, said: "If there's been an increase in the crime rate, there's going to be an increase in arrests and prosecutions so there's going to be an increase in people that have a right to representation and will qualify for Legal Aid. That's something that should have been anticipated and to say they've run out of money is not a satisfactory explanation."

The Legal Aid department budget for 2009/10 was $2.3 million, down from the $2.9 million allocated the previous year. The budget for next year remains the same at $2.3 million.

Invited to comment, Attorney General Kim Wilson said: "The Legal Aid department has exceeded its budget allocation for 2009/10. The shortfall will be taken up by the Ministry of Justice."

She said in the past, bills had been delayed due to lack of sufficient information on the invoices and the time taken for staff to process those bills.

"An exercise was undertaken to bring the bills up to date in November 2009 which was successful. Due to the increases in Legal Aid matters, the increased bills and staffing constraints, payment processing was suspended on March 15, 2010 to sort out the backlog of payments," she said.

"It is expected that the payments will resume in April 2010, with additional staff being added to alleviate any problems. The administration of payments is carried out by the Legal Aid department and sent for final processing and approval to the Accountant General's department. We have determined that these fees can be paid out of the 2010/11 budget. The Ministry as a whole has taken up the shortfall in the Legal Aid budget within its 2009/10 budgetary allocation."