Seòmar agus comataidhean

Good morning. Thank you for the information that you have provided so far.

We recently became aware of the case of a woman who was turned down not by one, not by two, but, shockingly, by 116 law firms that would not take up her divorce case. As you know, it takes a lot for a survivor, especially a woman, to come forward, let alone to seek legal aid. This woman was assaulted by her husband and had to find legal aid, and then was turned down, which added extra layers of stress.

However, that is not the only such case. Last week, we heard evidence from JustRight Scotland that people sometimes contact 30 to 50 law firms before their case gets picked up. Scottish Women’s Aid has said that survivors of abuse sometimes face the challenge that local solicitors are representing the abuser, which leaves them having to find a solicitor in another part of the country, which makes things even more complicated.

I have spoken to many survivors of domestic abuse as part of my Prevention of Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Bill, and all I can say is that many of those women are extremely vulnerable. What should be done to make their lives a bit easier?

Dr Scott, you have already said that it is not only access and resources that are the problem—the model is also not fit—so it would be good to hear what more can be done. I know that you have already covered some of that.

I have one more question for Dr Zazai about the cultural side of things, because that issue was raised last week.

You spoke about language barriers. Many women—because it is usually women—are left in a no-man’s-land in cases of domestic abuse that involve housing. They do not have access to information and they cannot communicate. You said that sometimes it is hard to even read and interpret a solicitor’s letter. Do you agree that there are not only language barriers but cultural ones?

In the evidence that we took last week on cultural barriers, we heard that sometimes—in fact most of the time—solicitors do not have the time or the resources to understand people’s background or the cultural aspects of their situation. I know that when you speak with those from different backgrounds you are sometimes dealing with a whole family—sometimes a whole community—and not only with the person who has been domestically abused. What would you say about the fact that legal aid solicitors do not have training in culture or the resources to access that?

My next question is about bureaucracy and access. Dr Marsha Scott, who was on the previous panel, said that even the United Nations has raised the issue of the depletion of legal aid lawyers in Scotland. How can we talk about a human rights approach to administering legal aid when we have many layers of bureaucracy, as you have just mentioned; a lack of solicitors who are willing to take on cases at legal aid rates; women who are not eligible to access legal aid because they do not know their household incomes; and difficulties with understanding cultural and language differences, which we heard about from the previous panel?

Good morning. I thank the witnesses for the information that they have provided so far. Last week, I brought up the issue of abusive partners controlling all the household finances. In many cases, the abused person, which is usually the woman, does not know the household annual income. Therefore, the victim risks their application for legal aid being turned down either because the household income is too high or because there is no clear indication of what the household income is.

Survivors of domestic abuse come from all walks of life and all socioeconomic backgrounds. Witnesses at last week’s evidence session called for the removal of the criteria for accessing legal aid in certain cases, such as those brought by parties seeking civil protection orders and by survivors of domestic abuse. What changes need to happen to ensure that a human rights-based approach is taken to resolving legal disputes?

Thank you. That was some really good detail, Professor Boyle. Dr Christman, would you like to add anything?

Good morning. My question is one that I also put to the previous panel. The vast majority of domestic abuse survivors are women and, as the Scottish Women’s Rights Centre has said, survivors of domestic abuse often struggle to access civil legal aid and many of them need to pay privately. A witness on the previous panel told us that the fact that women cannot access civil legal aid makes them even more vulnerable.

As part of my work on my Domestic Abuse (Prevention) (Scotland) Bill, I have spoken to many survivors of domestic abuse, whose abusive partners often control the household finances. They might not be eligible for legal aid anyway as their household income may be too high, and sometimes they do not even have the information to hand. What is being done to prevent those women from becoming even more vulnerable?

Andy Sirel, you mentioned information from your helpline and said that some women have to go through 30 to 50 solicitors by the time that they get advice.

Good morning. Respondents to the committee’s call for views highlighted many issues with administering legal aid. Do you have any proposals that could help tackle such issues in the short term? Pat, do you want to go first?

Aaliya Seyal, do you want to add anything to that?

Thank you. In response to an earlier question, you spoke about not having the time to look at cultural or community differences and how to adapt to them. Could you expand a bit more on that?

Thank you.