Solicitors in talks about legal aid
8 Apr 08
Law Society of Scotland gathering views of the profession to take to government
The future of legal aid provision will be up for discussion this week, as the Law Society of Scotland gathers together the views of the profession to present to the Scottish Government.
Many of the local faculties and criminal bar associations are meeting this week to talk about the Government’s latest proposals. The Society also wants to know how the profession wants things to progress.
The legal aid review is part of wider summary justice reforms, which are supported by the Society.
Solicitor Oliver Adair, who negotiated for the Society on legal aid, said on the whole he was pleased that the Scottish Government had listened to the Society and had made significant improvements to the original proposals. However, the overall cut in the summary legal aid budget remained.
He said: “The Society thinks that, as there has been no increase in fixed fees since their introduction in 1999, this is a missed opportunity to properly redress underfunding over that period.
“These are interim measures and we will continue to work with the Scottish Government to ensure that legal aid provision remains a priority and that any reforms are placed under immediate, continuing and rigorous review.
“It will also be essential that the accuracy of the assumptions underpinning the new funding model is clarified as quickly as possible and that any further savings to be made to the criminal justice budget are quantified quickly and used to properly resource summary legal aid.
“It is very important that people who may not otherwise have to means to pay for legal advice can have access to a solicitor who can properly prepare and present their case.”
The Scottish Government announcement has failed to satisfy members of the Glasgow Bar Association, who will meet over the next two weeks to decide on possible strike action over the proposals. In a previous dispute over legal aid in jury cases the Association threatened to refuse to represent accused persons charged with sex offences.