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Gender, Justice and Legal Aid in Scotland

Scottish Women’s Rights Centre comments on the Law Society’s research on The Financial Health of Legal Aid Firms in Scotland

A gap exists in Scotland between women experiencing violence or abuse, and access to justice. The Scottish Women’s Rights Centre (SWRC) is a unique collaborative project that exists because of – and works to try and bridge – this gap, working with and supporting women to achieve justice through legal advice, representation and advocacy. We are funded by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Legal Aid Board.

The SWRC recognises that legal aid is a critical piece in the complex jigsaw puzzle that makes up justice in Scotland. The diagnosis from the most recent health check of legal aid by the Law Society is of pressing concern.

As things stand, women do not have equal access to justice. A high level of legal aid work is carried out in respect of issues that disproportionately impact women, including child contact, divorce and protective orders. For women with experience of violence or abuse, civil legal assistance can be a vital safety net. If personal injury claims are discounted from legal aid, the ability for women who have been abused to seek damages also diminishes. Without access to legal aid, the associated legal and court costs are unmanageable for most and impossible for many.

Accordingly, any cuts to legal aid mean less protection for women, who already have unequal access to legal protections. There is a vital need to monitor the gendered impact of any changes.

Findings from the Law Society highlight that for lawyers and legal firms alike, doing legal aid work is becoming increasingly difficult, with decreasing time, money and resources allocated to legal aid cases. This has a particular and notable impact on rural areas and for women survivors of gender based violence who access civil protections from these areas. Solicitors also report challenges in accessing legal aid quickly in emergency situations; when we know that any delay could negatively impact on the safety of women seeking urgent protective orders.

Solicitors in Scotland pride themselves upon delivering the same quality of service for all their clients irrespective of whether they are paid privately or through legal aid, yet the current situation provides impediments to their ability to do this. With such limited resources allocated to each case, solicitors often can’t afford to maintain the level of communication and support that women who have experienced violence and abuse understandably seek.

As one respondent in the Law Society’s research said:

“It’s simply not sustainable in the long term and it’s frankly quite demoralising to be so poorly remunerated for legal aid work which invariably involves assisting clients who are particularly vulnerable and needy in terms of time and communication.”

Comparative evidence from Engender Scotland highlights concerns that women have been hit hardest by previous cuts to legal aid in England and Wales. For those solicitors who do persist with legal aid work – despite associated pressures – the costs can be great. One third of civil legal aid work and one quarter of criminal legal aid work is unpaid.

It is our conclusion that legal aid cuts may impact not only access to services, but the quality of service that women need to access justice. With fewer and fewer firms doing legal aid work because it is either financially unviable or simply not remunerative, the paths available for women in pursuit of justice decrease

What’s clear is that when it comes to justice, gender matters. We welcome this report from the Law Society of Scotland – despite it being an uncomfortable read – as an opportunity. As Scotland undertakes an independent review of legal aid in the coming months, we must strive to honour and uphold the principle of equality upon which legal aid was founded - ensuring that all women experiencing violence or abuse have access to justice.