Law Society Seeks to Ensure Adequate Access to Justice Through Legal Aid

The Law Society of Scotland has produced a video which highlights the significance of legal aid in ensuring adequate access to justice in Scotland.

Research indicates that the public strongly supports legal aid, with an Ipsos Mori survey indicating that 81% of the public agree that legal aid is worth the cost to ensure a fair and just society.

However, a recent survey conducted amongst legal professionals demonstrated that 78% of solicitors believe that the Scottish Government policy on legal aid could potentially undermine access to justice. 77% of participants in the survey supported increasing legal aid rates.

President of the Law Society of Scotland, Christine McLintock said:

“We recognise that like all public sector funding, the justice budget is under significant pressure. However, legal aid funding is quite simply the cost of access to justice for those in need.

“Access to justice is an essential element of a fair and democratic society and we have highlighted it as one of one of our key priorities for this year’s Scottish election. Providing access to quality legal advice and representation for people, regardless of their financial means, helps tackle inequality, encourages early resolution of problems, and protects fundamental rights.”

McLintock went on to discuss how fees for particular types of work have not been revised since 1992, and as such do not adequately affect the current financial realities of the legal sector.

The legal aid budget has also been greatly reduced from £161.4m in 2010/2011 to £138m in 2014/15. The target budget for 2016/17 is even lower at £126.4m. This decrease of £10m when inflation is taken into account represents a decrease of 50% in real terms over the course of the last 20 years. McLintock said:

 “This is causing enormous challenges – already there are areas of the country where there are not enough solicitors providing civil legal aid to meet demand because practitioners just can’t afford to take it on.”

Legal Aid Reform in Scotland

The Law Society has made numerous recommendations for reform of the legal aid system set out in its paper ‘Legal Assistance in Scotland: Fit for the 21st Century’.

The suggestions include developing alternative solutions to court action to resolve cases, this could generate savings within the legal aid budget. Fewer cases proceeding to court would create savings on the prosecution, defence and witness cost especially where cases are resolved at an early stage. In addition, the report recommends greater use of technology to save money. This includes greater use of electronic disclosure in criminal cases, video conferencing and a case management portal to increase efficiency.

McLintock commented:

“Technology can be a great help, but many vulnerable groups will either not have access to such technology or the skills to use it. They should not be deprived of access to legal advice.”

 “There are important discussions to be had on how we can deliver better legal services to communities and how this should be funded.”

Contact Beltrami & Company

Beltrami & Company offer a high-quality service to all clients, whether the case is funded by legal aid or privately funded. Clients can be assured of complete confidentiality and discretion.

Beltrami & Company are conveniently based near Glasgow city centre but operate throughout Scotland. The firm offers a 24-hour, 365-day a year service for clients in police custody. Any calls to our offices out with normal business hours can be dealt with by an experienced solicitor. Contact us here.