Day of action as solicitors press for legal aid rise
Solicitors across Scotland are taking action today in protest against the Scottish Government's failure to increase the money paid to legal aid practitioners to make up for the additional work caused and the income lost due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences.
Members of a number of local bar associations will either refuse to attend court, or limit the number of lawyers attending, as part of their campaign for the additional pay they say is necessary to prevent the collapse of the publicly funded sector of the profession, civil and criminal.
Scottish courts are closed to most business today due to the St Andrew's Day public holiday, but defence solicitors are expected to attend to represent people detained in custody over the weekend and brought before the court today.
The first move was made by the Edinburgh Bar Association, whose members voted late last week not to attend court today. It followed the Scottish Government's response to talks with the Law Society of Scotland, which support urgent financial support for legal aid solicitors. Apart from a 3% rise last year, legal aid rates have been largely frozen or indeed cut over the last 20 years, and with the drop in court business since the COVID lockdown, defence firms are struggling to stay afloat.
The Government's response was limited to additional payments for solemn cases where an early guilty plea is offered, and a subsidy for training places to encourage firms to take on trainees, many of whom now find it difficult to get into criminal defence work. (Click here for news item.)
On Friday evening the Glasgow Bar Association announced an invitation from its executive committee to "all solicitors who have a client appearing on Monday from custody to instruct us to represent their client. This is our first step along a path to ensure that our value in this Justice Partnership is fully recognised".
These "free agency appearances" are being copied at least in Kilmarnock, while solicitors elsewhere have voiced their support over social media for similar action. Its effect would be to allow most solicitors to take the holiday, possibly causing delays and an extended court sitting though not otherwise prejudicing any accused in custody.
In a statement in the name of its President, Julia McPartlin, the Edinburgh Bar Association said: "Most of the staff at court on Monday will be paid an enhanced rate for working on a public holiday. Defence agents do not receive any additional remuneration or indeed any recognition for this work. It is frankly insulting that the Scottish Government ignore our pleas for assistance over the last two decades and now expect us (without any consultation) to work additional days.
"It is a measure of the level of contempt with which we are treated that they do not even see fit to redistribute the saving in the existing legal aid budget to help us at a time of global pandemic. For these reasons, the members of the Edinburgh Bar Association have voted overwhelmingly not to attend court on Monday 30 November 2020."
The Glasgow Bar Association commented: "The response from the Scottish Government, intimated to us this week is woefully inadequate. They were aware that there was an urgency to our request for financial support. The Scottish Government, at the start of the pandemic, promised to support every SME. Their recent proposals failed to provide any immediate support. We have had to correspond with the Justice Committee of the Scottish Parliament to express our concerns at the repeated delays in receiving a proposal."
In an open letter to Justice Secretary Humza Yousaf published today in the Herald, Stuart Murray, President of the Aberdeen Bar Association, writes: "It is with deep regret therefore that we as a profession find ourselves treated with utter contempt in the face of our ongoing efforts. Many of our number are now embarking on what may prove to be the first in a series of industrial actions. There is no doubt that others will follow suit, should your Government fail to address the profound lack of funding provided by the Scottish Legal Aid Board."
The Scottish Government said it was unable to agree the 50% fee increase sought by the Law Society of Scotland, but the Justice Secretary would engage with the profession this week and the Government was "actively progressing a fee reform package that is beneficial for solicitors".
President of the Law Society of Scotland, Amanda Millar, said the frustration being felt by the profession across Scotland was "clear and completely understandable". Her statement is at this link.