Legal Aid Bill consultation an important step in addressing access to justice crisis

Consultation for new legislation to reform legal aid is an important step in addressing the causes of the access to justice crisis with viable and sustainable solutions, according to the Law Society of Scotland.

The Scottish Government has today launched a consultation paper on a new Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill to modernise the system.

The Government says core principles will underpin the consultation, including that legal aid should continue to be broadly available, demand-led, delivered by publicly funded private solicitors and targeted towards those who are least able to pay.

Law Society of Scotland President Serena Sutherland said: “This is an enormously important moment for access to justice in Scotland. The government’s decision to prioritise reform so early in this new parliamentary session is an acknowledgement of the Law Society’s long-term efforts seeking action to address the legal aid crisis.

“The problems in legal aid are deep rooted and long standing. The current arrangements make it unsustainable for many solicitors to provide legal aid funded advice to people who need their help. The system itself is fiendishly complex and confusing to navigate, creating unnecessary cost and bureaucracy.

“These legal aid reforms must rise to the challenge, recognising Scotland’s access to justice crisis and providing solutions that are equivalent in scale. The current system is failing vulnerable people and the solicitors who sit at the heart of the legal aid system.

“We will continue to engage constructively with the Scottish Government, the Scottish Legal Aid Board and other key stakeholders during this process to ensure Scotland has a legal aid system that is fit for the 21st century.”