PEOPLE accused of the most serious crimes are at risk of losing access to legal representation unless Legal Aid is fundamentally reformed, according to the body representing Scotland’s top lawyers.
Urgent improvements to the system of free access to lawyers for those who find themselves in the dock are needed to avoid a “race to the bottom” in the quality of the advice given, said the Faculty of Advocates.
It came as the deadline closed last night for evidence to be submitted to a government-launched review of Legal Aid.
The faculty said that some of the poorest and most vulnerable members of society were being let down by a system which was set up to safeguard their rights.
Advocates are turning their backs on legal aid work because of the low rate of remuneration, which had fallen significantly in the past decade “The new fee structure, established in 2006, was intended to undergo triennial review, but this has not occurred to date, in the face of continuing budgetary constraints,” the Faculty stated.
It added: “Unless this matter is addressed with urgency, the consequence over time will be a diminution in the quality of representation generally and, potentially, the eventual disappearance of advocates as pleaders in the most serious cases.
“No one can take any pride in presiding over a ‘race to the bottom’… the standard of representation is high but will only remain so if the commitment to support that representation is maintained and financial arrangements are improved.
“There is a strong ethos among advocates of ‘serving the public’ in the practice of criminal defence at the highest level. It is a service which should not be taken for granted.”
The Faculty looked at the impact of legal aid on criminal law, family law and immigration and asylum law.
It said that the objective of the review should be to ensure that protection for members of Scottish society’s right to legal representation.
Its submission said: “Legal aid allows us to provide services to those who cannot employ an advocate from their own resources.
"Without our assistance, vulnerable members of society would be facing serious personal and social issues without the benefit of skilled advice and representation.”
“We consider it is important that legal aid continues to be available for the instruction of counsel in all cases where the State seeks to ‘interfere’ in the family lives of socially vulnerable people, in order to ensure protection of one of the most basic human rights, the right to respect for family life.
During the past five years the amount of legal aid paid in Scotland has dropped by almost £30million and there has also been a 40,000 fall in the number of eligible cases coming to court.
A Scottish Legal Aid Board spokesman said the Faculty’s comments were "useful, adding: “We continue to have regular discussions with them to identify areas within the 2006 table of fees that no longer reflect court processes or practice as well as they could.”
Martyn Evans, chief executive of the Carnegie Trust, is leading the review which is due to report back next year.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The right to legal aid must be available to everyone, and we announced an independent and comprehensive review in February this year to ensure that legal aid meets the changing needs of Scotland’s justice system."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel