Solicitors will refuse to take part in summary cases heard as part of a new Scottish Government scheme - a move expected to lead to major court backlogs.
Solicitors will be withdrawing from the implementation groups for the new Summary Case Management (SCM) scheme immediately as Scottish Ministers have failed to update legal aid rates, The Herald can reveal.
The country’s sheriff courts are expected to face extreme pressure and court backlogs are anticipated to mount up as a result.
It was reported yesterday that solicitors staffing the Scottish Legal Aid Board’s hotline could also be set to walk out after backing strike action over changes to their rota.
The Herald has now been told by the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA) that solicitors will withdraw from the new scheme which will lead to “active disruption” nationwide from June 26th.
The SCM — which has been piloted in five sheriff courts — covers non jury cases, typically involving offences such as domestic abuse, assault, drink or drug driving and breach of the peace.
These are heard by a sheriff or justice of the peace and can result in prison sentences of up to 12 months and fines of up to £10,000.
They can be time intensive and costly as often the accused will initially plead not guilty.
The SCM aims to streamline the justice process by disclosing evidence to the defence earlier, encouraging early guilty pleas and reducing the number of trials and court appearances.
However, the ability to deliver such a scheme has been dealt with a hammer blow as solicitors are expected to boycott it as emails seen by The Herald reveal the Scottish Government appeared to backtrack on updating legal aid pay rates for solicitors.
In an email from a Scottish Government official to the SSBA dated May 22 addressing an update to legal aid rates, it stated: "I don’t have authority to make a firm offer yet, hopefully we wont have too much longer to wait.
"But, I don’t think we will be far away from that when we are able to make a formal approach."
Yet, since then, in written correspondence between the Scottish Government and the SSBA, Victims Minister Siobhian Brown said she was “not in a position to make any formal offer” on the rate of pay in legal aid cases.
READ MORE:
Legal aid crisis sparks sheriff court boycott fears
Scottish lawyers ramp up SCM boycott over legal aid crisis
Beyond Breaking Point: Scotland's Legal Aid Crisis – all articles here
The minister said this was because "due process” to seek approval for spend “within our current challenging financial position” was not yet complete.
Her response comes as the level of summary legal aid fees presently sits at nearly 5% below what they were in 1998/99.
In a letter to the Sheriff Principle yesterday seen by The Herald, Paul Smith, the president of the Edinburgh Bar Association stated: “Then, the average cost of a summary case was £820. In 2023/4 it was £780. That is unacceptable.”
Last year, The Herald's series: Beyond Breaking Point explored the issue of legal aid in crisis.
During the series, the paper highlighted that a key concern from the sector was the number of practitioners walking away from legal aid work with the rate of pay singled out as the main reason for this.
The SSBA, the representative body for criminal solicitors, has been involved in negotiations with the Scottish Government over legal aid rates since their inception in 2021.
Their president Simon Brown told The Herald “enough is enough” when it comes to the Scottish Government's approach to legal aid.
Mr Brown said: “With rates virtually unchanged in real terms over more than 25 years, it is proving increasingly difficult to retain lawyers to work in the sector, with much better paid employment available elsewhere.
“In the last month alone, I am personally aware of four criminal solicitors who have left defence work. Two, who were both at a senior partner level, have gone to the Crown, and one girl astonishingly has left law entirely to start better paid work as cabin crew.
“The most heart-breaking was a young lawyer who left crime to move to personal injury. I met them recently and asked if they were enjoying the new job to be met with the response “No, I hate every minute of it, but it pays 30% more than I could hope to get in crime”
“The number of lawyers providing criminal law cover at any meaningful level in the whole of Scotland is less than 500, and that is not a sustainable number.”
The total legal aid budget for all forms of legal aid in 20223-24 was £151 million, with £85 million of that spent on criminal legal aid.
In contrast, the budget for COPFS in 2023-24 was £200.8 million, projected to rise to £249 million by 2026.
Addressing the difference in investment, Mr Brown said: "This is not equality of arms.
"The government has tried direct alternatives with the implementation of the PDSO [Public Defence Solicitor's Office], which is now de facto the biggest criminal firm in the country, but according to latest figures it’s running at a loss well into the hundreds of thousands each year.
“Solicitors care very much about our clients, quite frankly we couldn’t do this job if we didn’t, and we do not take lightly a decision to disrupt their cases, but enough is enough.”
In a letter dated June 6, the Victims and Community Safety Minister Ms Brown told the SSBA: “I am disappointed that you feel further disruptive action is necessary.
“As I explained in my letter of 30 May, we must follow due process in making decisions that will increase pressure on the public purse, and this is particularly necessary within the very constrained current financial position.
“This process is being followed as a matter of urgency and I will make a firm offer without delay when I am able to do so. I remain committed to resolving this position as soon as possible and my officials will maintain contact with you.”
However, this has been met with frustration and anger from solicitors.
In his letter to the Sheriff Principle, the president of the Edinburgh Bar Association, Mr Smith, pointed out that recruitment and retention of staff has been an issue in the profession “for years” which he said has been “exacerbated” by the salaries offered to newly qualified staff by COPFS, “whose spending per case has increased by 235% between 2016/17 and 2023/24.”
Mr Smith added: “This demonstrates the SG has resources to fund the Justice System. It is choosing not to properly resource the defence.”
In an open letter to the Justice Committee, the Edinburgh Bar Association said the minister is “at best” being “wilfully blind” to evidence that COPFS recruitment is affecting numbers of defence agents.
In a letter to the Sheriff Principle yesterday, Mr Smith stated: “On 27th May 2025 the SSBA received communication from the SG (Scottish Government) that led us to believe an offer was to be made on the level of the summary fixed fee.
“We engaged with SCM in good faith in the anticipation of an offer being made. No offer has been forthcoming. The last communication from the SG on 6th June makes it clear that no offer will be made.”
Mr Smith added: “Significantly more is expected of us for significantly less remuneration.
“The number of Solicitors registered to provide criminal legal assistance is at its lowest since registration was introduced.
"The SG is aware of this and does nothing to act."
The Scottish Government has been contacted for comment.
