LAWYERS have warned of threats to the legal aid service as a result of budget cuts.
The Law Society Of Scotland is concerned the allocation for this year is the same as was spent on legal assistance 20 years ago and it says the budget is 57.6 per cent of where it should be if inflation had been taken into account.
It says cuts are likely to curb the rights to justice for people on low and modest incomes, who rely on legal aid.
Some £150.5 million was spent on legal aid in 2013-14, £12.4m more than the initial Scottish Government allocation of £138.1m.
The allocation for this year has fallen £6m to £132.1m. In 2015-16 it is due to rise by a further £4m.
But the society has said in a memo: "Given existing numbers of individuals requiring legal aid services, we believe the budget allocation figures are unrealistic and are unlikely to be achieved without restricting access to justice.
"Legal assistance provides financial assistance to enable those on low and moderate incomes to access legal services.
"Its continuation is vital in ensuring the right to a fair trial, enshrined in both common law and human rights legislation. If trends continue, we believe solicitors are going to find it difficult to continue to offer these services and remain economically viable."
The Scottish Legal Aid Board (Slab) is already predicting a gap between its forecast spending and the Government's allocations for the next two years.
The Law Society Of Scotland recently put forward a discussion paper to generate debate on how to improve publicly funded legal advice and services saying the system needs a "root and branch change".
President Alistair Morris said the existing system, which was set up almost 30 years ago, was "hugely complex".
But the society is concerned there is not enough funding for legal aid from Government and has called on ministers to improve funding.
"We acknowledge the seriousness of the economic background and the rationale behind economics in public expenditure," said the society.
"However, we believe the legal profession should be fairly remunerated for the legal aid work they do.
"We believe additional funding should be allocated to legal aid to ensure legal aid remains a key element of access to justice for people in Scotland."
Slab recently stated £94m had been spent on criminal legal assistance last year, a drop of £800,000 from 2012-13. Spending on civil legal assistance fell £1.2m to £47.8m in 2013-14. Legal aid payments to solicitors last year amounted to £117.1m - an increase of £2m on the previous year.
Last year was the third consecutive year the board had seen a reduction in its core administrative funding.
A Government spokesman said: "We must reduce expenditure on the legal aid fund, and in such a way it does not affect availability to those who need it. If we do not reduce costs then we risk significantly reducing the scope of legal aid, which could damage access to justice.
"England and Wales are making drastic cuts to legal aid expenditure - nearly one-third in total from 2011-2016.
"There, people can no longer access legal aid to help with cases involving debt, employment, housing, immigration, family and welfare benefits, clinical negligence, criminal injuries compensation and certain types of asylum. Two thirds of cases in the family court now feature somebody representing themselves.
"We will not let that happen here. This Government has recently proposed to increase the legal aid budget by £3.6m (2.5 per cent) for 2015-16. We are taking different measures to reduce expenditure and will be setting out our priorities for the rest of this Parliament shortly."
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