According to the Daily Record newspaper, the haul by Scotland’s legal aid practitioners was more than £60m more than that of their counterparts in Italy – a country 12 times the size -- a European Commission report has revealed.
According to the research, legal aid in Scotland cost around £31 for each citizen in 2010, while in Italy the figure stood at just £1.50 per person.

Lawyers banned

In countries with a population closer to that of Scotland, the differences were even more stark, with Denmark – which has a population of 5.6m compared to Scotland’s 5.2m – paying its lawyers just £70m overall.
The 450-page report from the European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice comes as the Scottish Legal Aid Board banned three lawyers from claiming cash for criminal cases, reports the newspaper.
Gerard Tierney, Massimo D’Alvito and Andrew Brophy of Blantyre, Lanarkshire, breached the board’s code of practice with Mr Tierney and Mr D’Alvito reported to the Crown Office, which will decide whether to prosecute.
Central Ayrshire Labour MP Brian Donohoe said: ‘It seems major organised criminals and terror suspects qualify for unlimited legal aid, yet I have constituents who don’t get a penny simply because they have a few thousand pounds of savings. The system in Scotland and the rest of the UK is out of control.’

Strikings off

The study also found that only a tiny proportion of lawyers in Scotland received any discipline measures. Just three were struck off and 13 reprimanded in Scotland in 2010, while Denmark took action against 309 lawyers, with six struck off and 145 fined.
The commission report -- which looked at 47 criminal justice systems across the continent – found that the cost per person of legal aid in Scotland was third-highest, behind only Northern Ireland and England and Wales.
The Scottish Legal Aid Board countered demands for reform following the report’s publication: ‘Across Europe, there are substantial differences between judicial systems and very different approaches to the provision of legal aid and its cost. The Scottish system is highly regarded internationally for the efforts made to ensure access to justice. The Scottish Government’s budget allocation for the Legal Aid Fund has reduced significantly in 2011-12 and is planned to reduce further in future years.’

Legal hub

Elsewhere, the Law Society of Scotland is set to promote the country as an international legal hub at this week’s International Bar Association conference in Dublin.
Advocate General for Scotland Lord Wallace of Tankerness and Roseanna Cunningham MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs are set to address those attending an event held by the society today.