Society supports unrestricted civil legal aid in revised paper
Civil legal assistance should not be restricted in scope, the Law Society of Scotland has concluded in a new paper on legal aid published today.
The recommendation paper, Legal Assistance In Scotland – Fit for the 21st Century, departs from proposals in a consultation paper last autumn that areas including housing and employment should be excluded from the scope of civil legal aid, in favour of alternative provision of advice. The idea was vigorously opposed by the advice sector and solicitors working in law centres, and the new paper, also in name of Legal Aid Committee co-conveners Ian Moir and Mark Thorley, states that as a result the committee does not recommend pursuing the suggestion.
It is also not taking forward a suggestion to remove the exception for property in dispute when assessing financial eligibility.
The paper now recommends that the Society enters discussions with the Scottish Legal Aid Board, along with other organisations across the justice sector, to consider the development of a single grant system for civil legal aid, and that the Society and the advice sector work together to ensure that funding is provided "in such a way as to generate certainty and confidence in the system, and remunerate those providing the service at a sustainable rate".
Other proposals reflect and in some respects develop the approach of the previous consultation paper. The Society restates its belief that the current legal assistance system is not fit for purpose and it is time to take a fresh look at how to ensure a sustainable system for the future.
For criminal legal aid, it calls among other things for the introduction of a block fees system for solemn cases; a fixed fee for police station advice; and a review of funding structures for criminal appeals to ensure they support court practices and procedures. There would be a single application for criminal legal assistance, at which financial eligibility would be checked, and then it would be for the solicitor to apply for the appropriate block fees as a case progressed. The level of fee for guilty and not guilty pleas should be set at the same level, and cover a roughly equivalent amount of work, additional block fees being payable where appropriate.
In civil legal aid, a single grant system should be developed, removing current distinctions between advice and assistance, assistance by way of representation, and legal aid. Discussions should explore the potential benefits of increased joint working between solicitors and the advice sector, including the provision of funding.
The Society believes that increased use of technology, a revised fee structure, and the creation of civil legal aid grants would improve the legal aid system and generate savings which, it says, should be reinvested in legal aid provision.
President Alistair Morris commented: “We don’t believe that the current system is fit for purpose and, with the ongoing reforms to modernise the wider court and justice system, the time is right for root and branch change. We need to rethink legal aid as a whole and look at where efficiencies can be made and how savings can be reinvested to ensure that people can obtain legal advice when they need it most, regardless of their status or wealth.
“We think it essential that there is proper investment to halt the real-term decline we have seen in legal aid expenditure over the years.
“The recommendations we make in our paper will help streamline legal assistance, reducing complexity and the administrative burden, and allow businesses to be more efficient. This will help generate savings which can then be reinvested."
He added: “We fully understand that public funding remains an issue for all frontline services, but we believe that with the high prevalence of justice problems, the social, emotional and financial cost of leaving these unresolved is too high a price to pay.”