LSA Welcomes Scottish Parliament Committee Report on Legal Aid

Legal Services Agency (LSA) welcomes the recent report from the Scottish Parliament’s Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee on the state of civil legal assistance in Scotland.

The report is the result of a detailed inquiry which included a call for views and three evidence sessions. LSA contributed a written response individually, and as part of the Scottish Association of Law Centres (SALC), with our Chief Executive, Aaliya Seyal, providing oral evidence on behalf of SALC.

The Committee found that urgent action is needed to improve the delivery of the civil legal assistance and, in turn, improve access to justice in Scotland.

The report’s key conclusions are that:

• Legal aid deserts cannot be allowed to persist in Scotland.
• It is “highly unsatisfactory” that no legislation has been introduced to reform civil legal assistance in this parliamentary session.
• The Scottish Government must work with the Scottish Legal Aid Board now to progress reforms not requiring primary legislation.
• In the longer term, the Committee welcomes the emphasis being placed on mixed models of delivery and user voice by the Scottish Government.
• The Committee also asks that the Scottish Government consider preventative approaches and public legal education as part of its discussion on longer-term reforms.

To read the Committee’s full report, please click here.

As a law centre offering legal aid services, Legal Services Agency is supportive of the Committee’s focus on ensuring access to justice for all. Our vision is of a fairer society where everyone, 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.

We thank the Committee for undertaking this important inquiry and for its thorough examination of the challenges facing civil legal assistance in Scotland.