Solicitors against custody scheme

Disquiet over police station initiative

Solicitors in Tayside and Fife have voted to bail out of a controversial police station duty scheme.

The new legislation, which comes into force tomorrow, will entitle anyone in custody to legal advice and not just those who are being interviewed by police.

The revised police station duty scheme was triggered by a 2010 UK Supreme Court Ruling which found it was a breach of an accused’s human rights to deny them access to a solicitor during a police interview.

Mike Ferrie, Dean of the Society of Procurators and Solicitors of Angus – the latest to pull out – said it was with “a great deal of regret” that the criminal practitioners of Angus have found it necessary to unanimously withdraw.

He said: “Our members’ frustrations are directed towards decades worth of chronic underfunding and demoralising terms and conditions imposed by the Scottish Government via the Scottish Legal Aid Board (Slab).”

Solicitors in Kirkcaldy and Perth have apparently yet to opt out.

Ian Moir, convener of the Law Society of Scotland Legal Aid Committee, said it highlighted to the Scottish Government the likelihood of increases in the number of requests for a solicitor’s attendance and the implications of solicitors being expected to provide legal advice at police stations around the clock.

He said: “The proposed rates of legal aid also fall well short of what we consider to be fair and reasonable.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The regulations approved by the Scottish Parliament will lead to an enhanced fee package for solicitors who provide police station advice.

“The scheme, underpinned by the Scottish Legal Aid Board, is voluntary, with solicitors putting themselves forward to provide advice for those who are held in police stations.”