Society commits to action after legal aid vote
29 May 06
Council affirms non-co-operation policy but seeks meeting with minister
The Law Society of Scotland is to pull out of talks with officials from the Executive and SLAB on legal aid reforms but will continue to press for an immediate meeting with Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry.
The Society has taken this decision in the wake of the adoption by its governing Council of the motion calling on the Society to withdraw co-operation in criminal matters, passed at the packed special general meeting held on 19 May, requisitioned by legal aid solicitors.
It has also decided to write to the Scottish Parliament's Justice 1 Committee asking it to reopen an inquiry it conducted in 2001 into the remuneration of solicitors doing legal aid work, as the commitments made then have not been kept.
Caroline Flanagan, who left office as President of the Society on Friday, said: “The Council has agreed to revise the Society’s policy over co-operation with the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Legal Aid Board on criminal matters until this dispute has been resolved."
She added: "It is disappointing that such action is necessary, particularly when the Society has represented the views of the profession to the Executive on many occasions."
Oliver Adair, convener of the Legal Aid Solicitors Committee, said: “The Council has asked the Society’s negotiating team to take this matter forward. Part of the difficulty is that we have not been able to put our arguments directly to the Minister, although we have been highlighting the potential problems to the Scottish Executive since negotiations began.
“It is in the public interest to resolve this matter. We are already concerned about the numbers of solicitors coming into the profession to do criminal legal aid work. The failure by the Scottish Executive to address the issues of trust, respect and remuneration is only likely to accelerate this trend. Fewer solicitors providing this service will impact on access to justice.”