11 February 2025
LSA pledges support for the Law Society of Scotland’s Legal Aid Matters campaign
Legal Services Agency is pledging our support for the Law Society of Scotland’s ‘Legal Aid Matters’ campaign. The campaign calls on the Scottish Government to prioritise legal aid reform.
As put by the Law Society of Scotland:
Access to justice is a cornerstone of a fair society — but Scotland’s legal aid system is under threat.
It is well documented that the number of legal aid solicitors is shrinking year on year, and shockingly, nearly one-third of practitioners are set to retire within the next decade.
This decline puts the most vulnerable citizens in our society at an even greater risk. The Society knows that without urgent action, there is a very real possibility of a complete collapse of the system within 10 years.
Legal aid enables people to access legal help who would otherwise not be able to afford it. Legal aid enables solicitors to:
- Represent someone in court who has been accused of a crime
- Ensure that family matters are settled properly and fairly
- Protect victims of domestic violence
- Prevent homelessness
- Defend employment rights
- Challenge discrimination
- Protect the rights of people with mental health issues
- Ensure survivors of crime receive the compensation they deserve
However, the legal aid system in Scotland is facing significant issues.
Inadequate pay rates
When the fixed fees system started in 1998, the starting fee for a legal aid case was £500. Today, it is £552. This represents a 50% decrease in real terms for solicitors’ fees.
Legal aid fees do not adequately cover the actual costs of the work being carried out. As a result, less and less solicitors are taking on legal aid work every year – with the number of solicitors being registered for legal aid dropping 16 per cent since 2020.[1]
Legal aid deserts
The drop in legal aid solicitors has created legal aid deserts across the country. It has been found that 100,000 people living in Scotland’s most deprived communities are covered by just 29 civil legal aid firms in total. The vast majority, almost 90,000, have no local access to a civil legal aid firm at all.[2]
In many cases, individuals must contact dozens of solicitors before finding one who does legal aid work. In some cases, vulnerable people – such as victims of domestic violence – have been forced to represent themselves in court.[3]
Low financial eligibility thresholds
A further problematic feature of the legal aid system is low financial eligibility thresholds.
To qualify for advice and assistance legal aid (A&A), a person must have either a disposable income of less than £245 per week or be in receipt of certain means-tested social security benefits. A person must also have ‘disposable capital’ below £1,716 to qualify for A&A. The too-low financial eligibility thresholds for A&A mean that many people in Scotland are ineligible for legal aid but will struggle to pay privately for legal advice.
The Scottish Association of Law Centres has recently published a briefing calling for the financial thresholds to be reviewed and significantly increased. Ben Christman, solicitor at the Environmental Rights Centre for Scotland, published an article on this briefing and the low financial eligibility thresholds for legal aid. To read Ben’s article, please click here.
A two-tier justice system
Inadequate pay rates, the resulting legal aid deserts, and too-low financial eligibility thresholds have created a two-tier justice system in Scotland, in which vulnerable people and those already experiencing disadvantage are denied access to justice.
Our vision
LSA’s vision is of a fairer society where every person, regardless of their circumstances, can understand and exercise their rights with dignity and respect.
To realise this vision, it is vital that everyone – regardless of their financial circumstances – has access to a solicitor when they need one. Urgent reform to Scotland’s legal aid system is necessary to ensure that justice is for everyone, not only those who can afford it.
The campaign
To show our support for the campaign, throughout this week, members of our team will be sharing why #LegalAidMatters to them via our social media channels.
To pledge your support for the Law Society of Scotland’s campaign letter, please click here.
[1] Legal aid crisis looks ‘unsolvable’ | Scottish Legal News
