The Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA) has confirmed that its members will no longer participate in implementation groups for the new Summary Case Management (SCM) system, due to come into force on 26 June.

The SCM, piloted in five sheriff courts, is intended to streamline summary criminal cases, which include offences such as assault, domestic abuse, drink-driving and breach of the peace, by encouraging early disclosure of evidence and guilty pleas. Such cases are heard without juries and can result in up to 12 months’ imprisonment or a £10,000 fine.

However, defence solicitors say the scheme is unworkable without a commensurate increase in legal aid funding. Internal emails seen by The Herald suggest the Scottish government initially indicated an offer was imminent. A message from an official to the SSBA on 22 May stated: “I don’t have authority to make a firm offer yet, hopefully we won’t have too much longer to wait. But, I don’t think we will be far away from that when we are able to make a formal approach.”

In a follow-up letter, victims minister Siobhian Brown told the SSBA she was “not in a position to make any formal offer”, citing the need to complete internal processes amid “our current challenging financial position”.

Legal aid rates for summary cases remain nearly five per cent lower in cash terms than in 1998–99. Paul Smith, president of the Edinburgh Bar Association, highlighted the disparity in a letter to the Sheriff Principal, writing: “Then, the average cost of a summary case was £820. In 2023/4 it was £780. That is unacceptable.”

Simon Brown, president of the SSBA, said: “With rates virtually unchanged in real terms over more than 25 years, it is proving increasingly difficult to retain lawyers to work in the sector, with much better paid employment available elsewhere.”

“In the last month alone, I am personally aware of four criminal solicitors who have left defence work. Two, who were both at a senior partner level, have gone to the Crown, and one girl astonishingly has left law entirely to start better paid work as cabin crew.

“The most heart-breaking was a young lawyer who left crime to move to personal injury. I met them recently and asked if they were enjoying the new job, to be met with the response, ‘No, I hate every minute of it, but it pays 30% more than I could hope to get in crime’.

“The number of lawyers providing criminal law cover at any meaningful level in the whole of Scotland is less than 500, and that is not a sustainable number.”

The total legal aid budget in 2023–24 was £151 million, with £85m spent on criminal legal aid. By comparison, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service had a budget of £200.8m, projected to rise to £249m by 2026.