VICTIMS of domestic violence who need emergency advice but are afraid they will not qualify for legal aid, could benefit from new Scottish Office proposals published today.
Scottish Office sources said the proposals in the consultation document, Access to Justice Beyond the Year 2000, were aimed at widening access to civil legal aid, rather than slashing its cost to the public purse.
At the moment, access to the civil courts is the prerogative of the wealthy or those sufficiently poor to qualify automatically for legal aid.
The majority of employed people are put off by the prospect of large legal bills.
A Scottish Office source said: ''The driving force is access. We have to improve access to justice for those who are just above the threshold of free civil legal aid.
''We are also considering whether there might be a place for solicitors to be directly employed by the Scottish Legal Aid Board to cover areas of urgent need.
''A good example would be the provision of emergency help for victims of domestic violence.
''It is often raised that victims of domestic violence may need immediate legal help, sometimes the next morning, but are afraid or deterred because they cannot afford to meet a solicitor's bill and they do not think they will qualify for legal aid.
''The opportunity to resolve a difficult situation for them slips away.
''The Scottish Legal Aid Board might directly employ solicitors to stand by on call to offer advice in just such a crisis.''
Mr McLeish has said the consultation paper heralds the first significant review of civil legal aid since the Scottish Legal Aid Board was set up more than 10 years ago.
He is known to favour the idea of the board employing its own lawyers to supplement the services already available from the advice sector.
These solicitors might be involved in training advice sector staff, or even setting up their own advice centres to provide a direct service to the public.
One option might involve the board setting up a legal advice centre of its own.
Another idea likely to surface in the consultation paper is for private solicitors to provide an enhanced advice service using non-legally qualified staff.
Reassessing the current merit test for civil legal aid, with a relaxing of the criterion simply to a test of reasonableness, could also be on the agenda.
Given that family actions currently account for half the civil legal aid budget, #19m out of #35m, the expansion of mediation as a first step before publicly-funded legal action could be in for serious consideration.
Some research has shown that mediation leads to more satisfactory, long-term agreements for divorcing couples.
The Government is also known to be keen to to encourage people, through legal aid, to seek mediated solutions to civil disputes outside family matters.
Provision already exists in Scotland for financing speculative, no win-no fee, actions which remove the risk from the client and transfer it to the solicitor.
The Scottish Office is keen to consider whether or not legal aid could be removed from certain classes of actions in favour of conditional or speculative fees.
The consultation paper will go out to around 170 organisations and individuals with an interest in civil legal aid. Once replies are gathered by the end of August, the Scottish Office said it intends to move quickly.
Some of the provisions may be implemented by regulations from the Secretary of State, but those which require legislation may have to be dealt with by the first Scottish Parliament.
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