This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Key role for public defence office in future legal aid delivery - McLeish
01/10/1998
The Legal Aid system in Scotland took a major step forward today with the opening of the country's first Public Defence Solicitors Office (PDSO) in Edinburgh.
Home Affairs Minister Henry McLeish hailed the development as a key part of the Government's determination to provide a more efficient and effective legal aid system in Scotland.
And he stressed the independence of the PDSO from both Government and the Scottish Legal Aid Board, saying: "The Office will virtually identical to a separate firm in terms of providing legal services".
Launching the PDSO, a pilot which will last five years and be evaluated after three, Mr McLeish said:
"The Public Defence Solicitors Office is an important part of our drive towards delivering legal aid in Scotland more efficiently and cost effectively.
"It will enable us to make comparisons between public defence and private solicitors in terms of cost, quality, client satisfaction and the wider impact on the criminal justice system.
"I hope that everyone within the Scottish criminal justice system will play their part in ensuring this pilot is a success.
"We remain fully committed to ensuring access to justice and legal aid is an essential part of a humane and fair society. Every person convicted of an offence is entitled to legal advice and assistance. If they cannot afford it without undue hardship, it is right that the State should provide it. I remain fully committed to that.
"Legal Aid is a significant part of what we spend on the criminal justice system. Indeed we spend £80 million a year on criminal legal aid alone. This is double what we were spending 10 years ago in real terms.
"As a Government it is essential that we look at affordability and value for money while maintaining our overriding commitment to access to justice.
"We believe that it is right and proper to make use of the legislative powers we have to test out other ways of providing legal aid. Other countries provide legal aid through public defenders and in particular we have looked closely at the experience of Canada where results are encouraging. However, we need to test this approach in the special situation of Scotland and Scots Law. That is what this pilot is all about.
"Suggestions have been made that the public defender will not be independent. I have no fears about that. Opinions to the contrary are nonsense. Like all solicitors, those in the PDSO will be completely independent in the conduct of cases and will be bound by the rules and codes of conduct which apply to all solicitors."
BACKGROUND
1. Part V of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 allowed the Secretary of State to authorise the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) to set up a pilot public defence solicitors office. The office, which has been set up in Edinburgh, will operate for a maximum of five years and will employ no more than six solicitors.
2. The initiative will be subject to full independent evaluation and the Secretary of State will report to Parliament within three years. The evaluation will take place under the overall guidance of an Advisory Group which contains a representative of the Law Society of Scotland.
3. Details about the day-to-day work of the PDSO can be obtained by calling Fiona Shaw, Communications Manager of SLAB on 0131 226 7061.
News Release: 1969/98
1 October 1998