LAWYERS have condemned a review into Scotland's legal aid system as “wholly discredited” and called for its findings to be thrown out completely.
The Edinburgh Bar Association (EBA) said the report had “fundamentally failed to appreciate the reasons” behind the ongoing crisis in the system, which helps individuals meet court and tribunal costs.
Martyn Evans, chief executive of the Carnegie UK Trust, chaired the Scottish Government's independent review into legal aid which reported back earlier this year.
He attracted controversy after accusing legal aid lawyers of deriding the system they are part of and overplaying the case for an increase in fees.
But his findings were dismissed by the EBA, one of the country’s largest bar associations.
In a scathing response, it said: “Whilst the EBA welcomed the Scottish Government’s announcement of this review, and whilst we have sought to be balanced in our analysis of Mr Evans’ report, we have concluded that the report is wholly discredited and that its findings and recommendations ought to be rejected immediately.”
It said more than a quarter of its members had left the field within a decade, and blamed the failure of successive governments to adequately fund the legal aid sector.
As a result, the organisation said, the budget “for this most vital of public services stands in real terms at half what it was when rates of pay were set almost 27 years ago”.
It added: “In addition, whilst laws and rights have increased exponentially over that same period, at no stage has any regard been given to those who provide the service which ensures the effective functioning and protection of those laws and rights.
“The EBA therefore calls upon the Scottish Government not to spend any further time attempting to take forward a report which is now widely regarded as redundant.
“Instead, it ought to engage directly with the professionals without whom the legal aid sector will inevitably collapse, with all the consequential harm that will entail for the system of justice in Scotland.”
The EBA's criminal practitioners have previously led walk-outs and shunned court rota work in protest over low fees and spiralling workloads.
Mr Evans said he could “not find the evidence to justify” a general increase in fee rates, but recommended a fundamental overhaul of the legal aid system to drive efficiencies.
He said his review “considered the views of a wide range of stakeholders, including the legal profession's representative organisations and individual solicitors”.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We have considered the views of independent review panel, which included members of the legal profession, and considered the views of a wide range of stakeholders including the Law Society of Scotland.
“We will respond to the recommendations very soon having consulted with justice organisations, the legal profession and partners.”
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