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It is time for the political manoeuvring to end over legal aid payments

As civil solicitors we have never known such unanimous frustration and outrage across the profession at the Scottish Government's handling of proposed contributions in criminal legal aid ("Offer to amend legal aid proposals", The Herald, November 21).

Civil legal aid practitioners already know that contributions are a bar to access to justice. It will not be the first battered spouse or parent seeking contact with their child who has had to abandon legal action when faced with a civil legal aid contribution they cannot pay. It is one of the more disheartening parts of a solicitor's job to see a victim of domestic abuse let down by the system because they cannot afford protective orders.

Contextual targeting label: 
Finance

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