COP26: Scotland’s defence lawyers opt out of duty solicitor scheme

There will be numerous arrests at the COP26 in Glasgow, where world leaders will gather to address the climate crisis. Members of the Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen Bar Associations, however, will not participate in the duty solicitor scheme. They have been joined by others including the Hamilton and Falkirk bars.

Fiona McKinnon, president of the Glasgow Bar Association, wrote to Scotland’s justice secretary and others to inform them of the move and outlined the desperate state of the defence profession in Scotland.

She wrote: “Legal aid practitioners are under pressure as they have been at no time before in living memory. Pay disparity with our justice partners means we are unable to train and retain staff who are leaving us to better terms and conditions and sometimes double their salary in equivalent roles in COPFS [Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service] and Scottish government departments.

“Your recent employment drives typify the disparity. Unless urgent action is taken, there will be a lack of gender equality, racial diversity and age diversity in the profession and the aging population of Criminal Defence Practitioners will not be replaced. Your own figures illustrate this. We are a declining population of practitioners.”