Thursday 6 May 2004

PUBLIC DEFENDERS ARRIVE IN THE HIGHLANDS

PDSO, a new service providing people with quality advice and representation in criminal court cases has opened this week in the Highlands. The new service is only the second to use public defence solicitors in Scotland. It follows a decision by Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson MSP that the system of public defenders would be expanded outside of Edinburgh, where an office has been running for six years.

The Public Defence Solicitors' Office, or PDSO as it is known, is based in Inverness but serves people facing criminal charges in the Highlands and Moray, including the courts at Inverness, Elgin, Dingwall, Tain and Dornoch. The Highlands PDSO is based at 17 Queensgate in Inverness and can be contacted by phoning 01463 709680.

The Highlands PDSO is led by local solicitor Eilidh MacDonald, who has joined from another firm of Inverness solicitors. Eilidh is also known for her role as a Councillor for Inverness Central on Highlands Council. She is backed up by a team of support staff.

Welcoming the opening of the new PDSO service, Eilidh said:
"I'm delighted to have joined the Public Defence Solicitors Office to expand it into the Highlands. We bring a new type of service for people involved in a criminal case who require legal help. Anyone who is eligible for criminal legal aid can use the services of the PDSO."

"Our job is to give our clients a high quality advice and legal representation service. We also aim to provide information and links to other organisations who can offer help with other problems a client may face, such as on employment or health issues. I'm planning to meet with a range of organisations over the next few months to explain our new service and to help us help our clients."

All of the Public Defence Solicitors in PDSO are experienced criminal court lawyers. Each of them is paid a fixed annual salary, rather than being paid on a case by case basis in the way that private solicitors operate.

Any person involved in a criminal case who is eligible for legal aid can use PDSO for free. Many people qualify, often including people in employment.

The Director of the PDSO in Scotland, Alistair Watson, commented:
"I'm very pleased that we are opening our new office in Inverness, and am delighted that we have such a high calibre solicitor in Eilidh to lead it. People who use our new service can be certain of a friendly and high quality professional legal service."

"We have been working in co-operation with those involved in the justice system in the Highlands including local solicitors to establish the new offices and develop constructive relationships. We expect to learn a great deal from our new office about the challenges of running a legal practice in a rural area as well as helping inform consideration of the future use of public defenders in other parts of Scotland."

"The PDSO has substantial benefits for the public as it increases the choice of solicitor type available and has the potential to ensure that there is no unmet need either in cases which might be expensive to defend or in geographic terms. We expect our new office to become successfully established and that further solicitors will join later this year."

The first Public Defence Solicitors' Office (PDSO) in the UK opened in 1998 in Edinburgh. The legislation that set up the PDSO required that Scottish Ministers had to publish a report into the operation of the PDSO within 3 years. A substantial and detailed research report was published in 2001 raising issues for the PDSO, private solicitors and the wider justice community. It was considered that PDSO had been worthwhile and had generated a lot of useful information on how the criminal legal aid system was working. Ministers announced their intention to continue the PDSO Edinburgh office and to create up to two more offices in other areas when the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament in March 2002.

The Scottish Legal Aid Board was responsible for setting up the PDSO and the Director of the PDSO reports to the Chief Executive of the Board on administrative issues. In all other ways, the PDSO operates entirely independently. The Board assesses applications for summary criminal legal aid from the PDSO in the same way that it does for applications submitted by private solicitors.

ENDS

Journalists please contact:
PDSO, Inverness: Eilidh MacDonald, tel 01463 709680, mobile 07867 667277
PDSO, Edinburgh: Alistair Watson, Director, tel 0131 557 1222
Scottish Legal Aid Board: Colin Sim direct tel 0131 240 2033 or email simco@slab.org.uk.

NOTES FOR EDITORS

1. Opportunities for photography or interview with Eilidh MacDonald are available by contacting her direct. The PDSO in Inverness will be officially opened this summer. There will be further news and opportunities for interviews over the next months.

2. In 2002/2003 the Edinburgh PDSO dealt with 1,123 cases and acted as duty solicitor on behalf of other solicitors in a further 415 cases. The cost of the PDSO was £319,000.

3. Legal aid allows people who would not otherwise be able to afford it to get help for their legal problems. Legal aid and advice and assistance can only be accessed through a solicitor.

4. In 2002/2003 the costs of legal aid to the taxpayer (net Legal Aid Fund expenditure) was £135.1 million. In 2002/2003 there were 317,042 advice and assistance intimations, 85,915 grants of criminal legal aid, 13,480 grants of civil legal aid, 3,118 grants of children's legal aid and 239 grants for contempt of court.

5. The Scottish Legal Aid Board was set up in 1987 to manage legal aid in Scotland. The Board employs around 300 full-time staff. Twelve Board members, appointed by Scottish Ministers, oversee the work.

The Board's mission is to promote the development and delivery of appropriate access to quality legal assistance for those eligible, in a cost-effective manner.

6. For more information, visit the Board's website www.slab.org.uk