« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
Background
The process of modernising legal aid in Scotland began
during the first session of the Scottish Parliament and
resulted in some notable achievements, such as the reform
of the detailed arrangements for civil legal aid. Further
developments however now need to review the system in
greater depth, and to be linked to modernisation
initiatives elsewhere, in particular in the criminal
justice system, in order to reflect a clear vision for
publicly funded legal assistance in the future. In 2003,
therefore, a Strategic Review of the Delivery of Legal Aid,
Advice and Information was undertaken by a team comprising
representatives of the Scottish Executive Justice
Department and the Scottish Legal Aid Board (
SLAB). The Review focused specifically
on:
- The steps necessary to implement the Minister for
Justice's policy to modernise legal aid and
deliver a national framework for legal advice and
assistance, and the role of
SLAB within that;
- The respective responsibilities and working
arrangements between the Scottish Executive Justice
Department and SLAB, focusing on strategic leadership
and governance, and financial and other accountability,
as well as links to other relevant parts of the
Scottish Executive and the wider public sector;
- The steps necessary for all parties to promote best
value in the delivery of legal aid, with a particular
focus on current pressures on criminal legal aid;
- The scope for streamlining legal aid legislation;
and
- The development of
SLAB's operations, and resources and
powers
SLAB need to deliver future
priorities in the light of Best Value principles.
The full Report, a summary and background information to
the Strategic Review can be accessed on the Scottish
Executive website.
1 These documents discuss extensively the issues on
which your views are sought in this consultation. In most
instances, therefore, only a brief discussion will be
included here. If you are not able to access these
documents on the website addresses above, you can request a
hard copy from the Strategic Review Team, Access to Justice
Division, 2 West, St Andrew's House, Regent Road,
Edinburgh, EH1 3DG. Tel: 0131 244 2845.
This Consultation
Scottish Ministers are seeking your views on a number of
the recommendations from the Review in order to establish
how we may in future ensure that appropriate access to
justice on civil and criminal matters will be available for
the Scottish people and how we should address significant
strategic issues, such as the rising trends in expenditure
on criminal legal aid and the possible unmet need for legal
advice and help on civil matters.
This paper sets out separately, in
Parts 1 and
2 respectively, proposals for
publicly funded legal advice on civil matters and on
criminal matters.
Some of the issues covered by the report of the
Strategic Review are not dealt with in any depth in this
paper, because a number of matters have been progressed by
the Executive or by
SLAB since the Report was completed. The
table opposite shows, for civil and criminal publicly
funded legal assistance (
PFLA) respectively, where significant
progress on modernisation and strategic change has already
been or is being made. It also shows the key proposals for
further change that we are seeking your views on through
this consultation.
| CIVIL publicly funded legal
assistance | CRIMINAL publicly funded legal
assistance |
Recent or current change - Civil legal aid reform, including:
- Introduction of quality assurance
through peer review for all civil legal
assistance; and
- First stage of civil advice and
assistance reform consulted on and
implementation in progress.
| Recent or current change - SLAB has consulted on
its proposals for summary criminal legal
assistance reform;
- Issues surrounding fees for solicitors
and Counsel have been or are being dealt
with separately; and
- Quality assurance of criminal legal
assistance is being developed.
|
Proposals for further change -
short to medium term - Make specific provision in short to
medium term to give
SLAB additional powers
to improve delivery of civil
PFLA and to secure
provision by a range of methods, including
grant funding provision by
non-solicitors;
- SE and
SLAB to work with local
authorities to develop their role in
provision of civil
PFLA, and encourage
greater planning and co-ordination;
and
- Relax the severe hardship test in
section 19 of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act
1986.
| Proposals for further change -
short to medium term - Give
SLAB more flexible
powers to secure and fund the provision of
criminal
PFLA, including a
greater use of the
PDSO (Public Defence
Solicitors' Office) where necessary and
appropriate;
- Transfer the granting of solemn
criminal legal aid from the courts to
SLAB; and
- Introduce clear and fixed financial
eligibility criteria for all criminal legal
aid.
|
Proposals for further change -
longer term - Establish a national co-ordinating body
for both civil and criminal
PFLA; and
- Consider introduction of extended,
tapered financial eligibility for civil
legal aid.
| Proposals for further change -
longer term - Establish a national co-ordinating body
for both civil and criminal
PFLA; and
- Consider introduction of means tested
contributions in criminal
PFLA.
|
Table 1: Table summarising recent, current and proposed
changes to publicly funded legal assistance in
Scotland.
Proposals that can be pursued in the short to medium
term require only administrative or regulatory change, or
can be brought in by amendment to the current legislation,
which would be intended for introduction in the Scottish
Parliament in the current Parliamentary Session. However,
the scope of change involved in some of the proposals
requires more research and development of detailed options,
for which that timescale does not allow, or would require a
new and fundamentally different legislative framework,
which would need to be considered in the next Parliamentary
Session.
« Previous | Contents | Next »