Legal Aid

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.

A sharp fall in legal aid spending highlights the crisis across the sector. Commenting on the fall in legal aid spending from £130.9 million in 2020 to £99.1m in 2020-21, following publication of the Scottish Legal Aid Board’s annual report, the Law Society of Scotland has said the

Dozens of solicitors gathered outside Holyrood yesterday to demonstrate their deep dissatisfaction with the Scottish government’s inaction to reform legal aid.Ken Dalling, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “This crisis has been a generation in the making and the system is

The Scottish government has "no understanding" of the seriousness of the legal aid problem, a lawyer has said. The reaction follows a letter from from legal affairs minister Ash Regan to Ken Dalling, president of the Law Society of Scotland, and Julia McPartlin, president of the Scottish Solicitors

Scotland's three principal bar associations have voted to opt out of a duty solicitor scheme less than two weeks before the most important conference in the world due to continued mistreatment of defence lawyers.

More permanent sheriffs may be needed to cope with rising criminal business, the Lord President and Lord Justice General, Lord Carloway, has said.

The Law Society of Scotland has accused the Scottish government of dragging its feet on legal aid reform following the announcement of its programme for government. An independent legal aid review, which reported over three years ago, recommended an overhaul of the system. However, while the governm

A new fund worth £6.7 million to support legal aid firms has opened for applications. The Legal Aid Business Support and Recovery Fund has been established following consultation with the legal profession and will be distributed to legal aid practices.

Defence lawyers around Scotland have gone on strike today after last-minute talks with the Scottish government to obtain additional payments from its resilience fund failed. The Scottish Solicitors Bar Association held talks with Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf over the remainder of the fund yesterda

The Scottish government has made a conscious decision to deprive the legal aid system of funding. The number of lawyers able to service the scheme is dwindling. Wooed by COPFS or simply unwilling to be the sticking plaster in a broken system, they have left. As lawyers strike today, solicitor advoca

The 'resilience fund' offered to criminal legal aid solicitors by the Scottish government is worth less than half of the money it has saved in legal aid payments over the pandemic as a result of the sharp decline in criminal business. The fund, of which only a fraction has been paid, is worth a tota