The lack of payments from the Scottish Government resilience fund resulted in solicitors downing tools at courts across Scotland Legal aid solicitors will meet with the Scottish Government later this week to discuss options to improve a controversial Coronavirus fund which has seen just a third of the money pledged by ministers paid out to struggling firms. The resilience fund, set up to help legal aid lawyers cope financially following the downturn in court work over the last year, has paid out just £2.3 million of its £9m. The lack of payment to firms has sparked widespread anger among the profession, resulting in protest action at courts throughout Scotland last Monday.
Scotland’s courts experienced widespread delays on Monday as defence lawyers took action in a dispute over support for legal aid firms struggling due to the pandemic. Solicitors said to be “at breaking point” boycotted courts across the country in a move designed to delay the processing of custody cases – the stage where an accused makes their first appearance after being arrested. The action came as it was revealed that a Scottish Government fund set up to help law firms in the wake of a downturn in court work has paid out just £2.3 million of its allocated £9m. A £1m traineeship fund is also yet to be implemented despite being announced months ago.
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LAWYER groups have backed early resolutions for less serious criminal cases to help clear a three-year trial backlog which has built up during the pandemic. Sheriff Court summary criminal cases, where a sheriff hears a case sitting alone without a jury, widely resumed in Scotland yesterday after being largely suspended for more than three months. Under summary trials, the maximum jail term is 12 months and the biggest fine is £10,000. David Fisken, the vice president of the Glasgow Bar Association, warned there was a theoretical danger of people accused of crimes pleading guilty because they could spend longer on remand than any custodial sentence they may receive.