Question reference: S6W-04610
- Asked by: Stephen Kerr, MSP for Central Scotland, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 24 November 2021
-
Current status: Answered by Ash Regan on 8 December 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of requests made for legal aid funding, before an inquest, was successful, in each of the last 20 years.
Answer
There is no system of coroners' inquests in Scotland unlike England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The responsibility for the investigation of any death that requires further explanation rests with the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Any sudden, suspicious, unexpected or unexplained death and any death which has occurred in circumstances which give rise to public concern, can result in a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) a public examination of the circumstances of that death conducted before a sheriff.
Legal aid is available for relatives participating in an FAI on the same basis as for civil proceedings and the same statutory tests must be met.
Civil legal aid has generous financial eligibility thresholds and those who are entitled to participate in an FAI, such as family, are assumed to have probable cause. In terms of assessing ‘reasonableness’ the Scottish Legal Aid Board expects that the Procurator Fiscal will usually be able to represent the interests of the relatives. However, where a relative of a person who died in prison or police custody applies, SLAB will look favourably on the application.
SLAB holds data in respect of applications from 2012 only. In respect of FAIs I can confirm that since 2012 there has been a total of 134 applications received, of which 111 were granted. That is a grant rate of approximately 83%.
In the financial year 2012-13 90% of applications received were granted.
In the financial year 2013-14 78% of applications received were granted.
In the financial year 2014-15 71% of applications received were granted.
In the financial year 2015-16 93% of applications received were granted.
In the financial year 2016-17 88% of applications received were granted.
In the financial year 2017-18 87% of applications received were granted.
In the financial year 2018-19 79% of applications received were granted.
In the financial year 2019-20 81% of applications received were granted.
In the financial year 2020-21 86% of applications received were granted.