Use of plain English in legal system advocated

The Minister for Justice is backing a campaign to make the legal system more accessible to some 500,000 Irish adults with literacy problems.

Mr McDowell agreed yesterday there was a need for plain English within the system and in the wording of legislation. He admitted the traditional method of drafting laws is "off-putting" and that some legal practitioners may not present their cases as clearly as others.

He was speaking at the launch of a campaign by the National Adult Literacy Agency (NALA) to develop awareness of the need to make the legal and justice system more accessible to people with low literacy levels.

A 1997 OECD International Adult Literacy Survey estimated some 500,000 Irish people have low literacy levels but just 30,000 adults are availing of services to tackle their literacy problems.

Ms Inez Bailey, director of NALA, said the agency had decided to address the problem of poor literacy as a barrier to the legal system in this year's National Literacy Awareness Week, which begins on September 22nd.

NALA had been contacted by several legal organisations and practitioners who were concerned many people had difficulties reading and understanding legal documents and court procedures, she said.

"The aim of the campaign is to encourage awareness among people who work in the legal and justice sector of the need to deal more effectively and sensitively with people who have poor literacy skills," Ms Bailey said.

People tended to be intimidated by the often complex language used in legal circles and in court and there was a need to simplify this, she added.

People with poor literacy skills might also have difficulty reading insurance contracts, filling in application forms for a driver's licence, following signs in court buildings and reading and understanding documents outlining their rights.

The campaign also hopes to promote awareness about the links between low levels of literacy and crime/social exclusion.

Ms Bailey said NALA would like to see additional programmes to encourage parents and children to learn together. Such initiatives had proved very successful in the US and Canada. Literacy programmes set up in the workplace on a pilot basis had proved very successful in local authorities but there was a need to extend this to the private sector, she added. However, that involved funding issues and the necessary funds were not available now.

The NALA campaign runs from September 22nd to 28th and will feature a number of events and publications.

It is supported by the Department of Justice, the Courts Service, the Bar Council, the Law Society, the Garda, the Plain English Society in the UK and other groups.