European report records drop in legal aid amid above average judicial spend in Scotland

The European median figure in 2020 was €3.08, but UK legal systems traditionally have some of the largest legal aid budgets per inhabitant.

The CEPEJ report records the performance of member states across various metrics of their legal systems.

Scotland spent €85.20 per inhabitant on what the report refers to as the ‘judicial system’ in 2020, compared to a European median of €64.50.

The percentage of the judicial budget allocated to legal aid in Scotland is high (24 per cent) as compared with other Council of Europe member states and the average amount of legal aid granted per case (€680) is almost 50 per cent higher than the European median value.

In 2020, 26 per cent of judges and 56 per cent of lawyers in Scotland were women, compared to European medians of 62 per cent and 36 per cent respectively; there were still no female court presidents in Scotland in 2020, compared to a European media figure of 38 per cent.

At the beginning of their career, judges in Scotland earned €159,101 in 2020 compared to a European median of €46,149; at the beginning of their career, judges’ salaries in Scotland were 4.5 times the average annual gross salary, compared to a European median of 2.3 times the average annual gross salary.

At the end of their career, judges in Scotland earned €243,936 in 2020 compared to a European median of €90,287; at the end of their career, judges’ salaries in Scotland were 6.9 times the average annual gross salary, compared to a European median of 4.5 times the average annual gross salary.