Legal Aid

Advisers stationed at GP surgeries, council offices, libraries, and other convenient locations can help more people get more timely access to civil justice, according to a new think tank report. The Social Market Foundation said that legal support for civil justice can better reach the those in need

Members of the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA) will no longer accept new instructions in summary cases where a contravention of section one of the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 is alleged. Section one of the Act, which introduced a new offence to tackle coercive control, covers

Criminal trials in England and Wales could stop completely from today as barristers take industrial action over legal aid funding for defence practitioners. The Criminal Bar Association is moving ahead with its work-to-rule, with bar leaders saying they were taking action because real incomes for cr

Members of the Glasgow Bar Association (GBA) will no longer accept court appointments in cases where accused persons are not allowed to represent themselves after 90 per cent of member firms voted in favour of action, the body has announced. The GBA represents and promotes the interests of approxima

Following the news that the UK government proposes increasing criminal legal aid funding by up to £135 million per year south of the border, the Law Society of Scotland has criticised the lack of progress on resolving the legal aid crisis in Scotland as one lawyer said the system can no longer

The criminal legal aid sector south of the border is to receive up to an extra £135 million a year following a consultation, the UK government has announced. The move follows an announcement this week that 94 per cent of Criminal Bar Association members had voted in favour of industrial action

The Criminal Bar Association has voted to take industrial action in protest at the level of fees paid to them. About 1,800 criminal barristers voted to work to rule from April 11. This is only the second time the CBA has taken such action.

The Law Society of Scotland has criticised the the Scottish government's suggested increase in legal aid fees. Community safety minister Ash Regan said last week there would be additional improvements on top of a five per cent increase in fees.

Solicitors from the Aberdeen Bar Association have warned that the north-east’s most vulnerable people will suffer from the Scottish government's refusal to adequately fund Scotland's legal aid system. Defence lawyers in the city and Aberdeenshire have withdrawn from the duty scheme in protest

The Criminal Bar Association (CBA) in England and Wales has accused justice secretary Dominic Raab of lies against the backdrop of a looming crisis in the criminal courts. In an article for The Times yesterday, Mr Raab claimed that the CBA is "demanding that I ignore the public law principles that a

Clan Childlaw is calling for a more child-friendly and accessible legal aid system, in response to an ongoing consultation about financial eligibility for those applying for legal aid. It said the current legal aid system expects children and young people to navigate a complicated system which is no

The declining provision of civil legal aid has been a "disaster" for Orkney and risks turning it into a legal aid desert, a lawyer has told Scottish Legal News.

The Scottish government’s historic and continued neglect of the Scottish legal aid system will result in people who cannot afford legal advice being denied access to justice, according to a letter from the Law Society of Scotland President to the Scottish government. Despite the pledge of supp

Lawyers across Scotland are withdrawing from legal aid schemes due to their continuing dispute with the Scottish government over fees. Solicitors in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and the Borders are not participating in duty solicitor schemes in a move that should cause widespread delays to court proceedings

Legal aid practitioners suffered an expected decline in earnings in the second year of the pandemic, figures from the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) show.