Aamer Anwar’s law firm to stop legal aid cases

A leading law firm will no longer take on criminal legal aid cases, it has been announced.

Aamer Anwar blamed the “decimation” of the legal aid system for the decision to end his firm’s handling of such cases from next month.

The row over legal aid fees has been ongoing for a number of years, with defence lawyers urging the Scottish Government to increase the fees for such work.

The number of legal aid solicitors has dropped by a third since 2007, according to figures from the Scottish Solicitors Bar Association (SSBA) at the start of this year.

Over the last decade, the government’s spending on legal aid has declined by 45 per cent, allowing for inflation.

Announcing that Aamer Anwar & Co will no longer be taking legal aid cases, Anwar said: “It’s impossible to continue. After 25 years of being a lawyer, I’ve seen the legal aid system decimated, and the poor, vulnerable, and weak are unable to get justice.”

He confirmed to STV that his firm has been funding some of its cases itself, adding that “we’re literally getting paid nothing” via the legal aid system.

A review of legal aid in Scotland was published in 2018 which, alongside a number of recommendations for reform, concluded there was no “persuasive evidence” in favour of a general increase in fees.

However it did recommend the establishment of an evidence-based process to set fees, highlighting this was a source of ongoing tension.

A major funding package was agreed in 2023 which saw the government provide an extra £11m to increase fees for legal aid lawyers, plus support for research aims at agreeing a process for regular fee reviews.

But the SSBA has warned this will put the right to an experienced criminal solicitor at risk. In a post on X (formerly Twitter) last week, it said: “With legal aid rates rising roughly 10 per cent in 25 years, the criminal bar cannot compete with these wages. The inexorable drain of talent will continue, and without immediate intervention, we are doomed.”

Legal aid is available to anyone who can’t afford to meet the costs of legal advice from a solicitor or representation in court by themselves.

But solicitors are under no obligation to take on legal aid cases, and the Law Society of Scotland has said it is “increasingly difficult” to find a legal aid solicitor due to a lack of funding for such cases.