Two years ago, the number of criminal defence solicitors in Scotland who would work for legal aid fell below 1,000 for the first time since records began.
It was a significant moment for Scotland’s justice system.
While the latest official figures may show that there are still more than 900 solicitors taking on criminal legal aid work, they hide the truth about the crisis in our courts, with really only half of those doing more than seven cases a year.
READ MORE
- Beyond Breaking Point: Scotland's Legal Aid Crisis – all articles here
- Herald series investigates Scotland's legal aid crisis
- The data behind legal aid: What's access like in your area?
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‘The whole legal aid system’s going down the tubes,’ warns top lawyer
And even then, when you talk to any solicitor working in the courts in Scotland, they will tell you to look at the demographics. This is an ageing profession, increasingly unattractive to law graduates.
The number of lawyers willing to work for legal aid is falling while the demand for help is increasing.
In a fair and just society, access to justice is a fundamental right. The future looks grim.
It is not just Scotland where legal aid is in crisis, but the situation here is significant and worrying.
While criminal law legal aid is heading for breaking point, civil legal aid seems to already be broken.
We spoke to charities dealing with families and vulnerable women who told us of clients able to access legal aid, but unable to find a solicitor.
In our series, Beyond Breaking Point: Scotland’s Legal Aid Crisis, we try to tell the stories of those on the front line.
Today, we look at criminal law, speaking to lawyers who spend their days in the court rooms and police stations on Scotland.
Tomorrow, we will hear from those working with civil legal aid, and the people who need help but have nowhere to go.
On Thursday, we will have an exclusive interview with Siobhian Brown, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety. We will also hear from the other parties on how they would fix Scotland’s legal aid crisis.
Read more:
- Investigation: A third of legal aid solicitors to retire in next decade
- Explainer: What is legal aid?
- Inside story: What's it like on Scotland's legal aid crisis frontline?
Often, stories about legal aid get dismissed as lawyers moaning about being poorly paid, but really this series is about the least advantaged in our communities.
As solicitors move away from the legal aid system, it is the poorest of us who will struggle to when the state or others act against them.
It is those without who will struggle to find solicitors when it comes to contact and residence cases involving children or seeking compensation from an employer, or taking an interdict out against an abusive ex.
In September, at the opening of the legal year, Roddy Dunlop, the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, warned: “We must act now, or we will face a situation in which obtaining criminal representation is a luxury as opposed to a basic right.
“Access to justice is fundamental, and must be prioritised in the years to come, starting now.”
"Legal aid has been at breaking point for some years now. This is now an emergency."
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