SLAB announces action plan to support legal aid sector
A four point plan to help legal aid practitioners through the COVID-19 crisis has been announced by the Scottish Legal Aid Board.
It follows concerns raised by the Law Society of Scotland, the Glasgow Bar Association and solicitors across Scotland, and SLAB's own appeal for ideas on how to keep legal practices running as court hearings, especially criminal trials, are drastically scaled back.
The headings of the plan, with further details available by clicking on each, are:
- Maintain as far as possible, and for as long as possible, a normal applications, accounts assessment and payment service.
- Encourage solicitors and counsel to make full use of existing interim fee and reimbursement of outlays schemes – including for solemn criminal legal aid.
- Allow earlier and/or more regular claims for interim payments, and to allow fixed payments to be claimed when trials are adjourned for three months (in line with warrants and long deferred sentences).
- Seek new powers to allow SLAB to pay a proportion of interim claims without the need for a detailed account or full assessment, subject to clear provisions regarding recovery of any overpayments.
A statement from chief executive Colin Lancaster added: "People may be turning now more than ever to solicitors, advocates and advisers to help support their rights in difficult times. It is in all our interests that the lawyers and advisers are supported at this time.
"Over the last few days my staff have responded by developing changes to the legal aid system to support a fundamentally different way of working in a rapidly shifting landscape.
"Lawyers are adapting and coping with seismic shifts in the operation of the justice system and the running of their businesses, all in the face of huge financial uncertainty. We want to do all we can to help."
SLAB will communicate further on the changes it can make to its interim payment schemes as soon as these are ready.