Your article in SLN regarding Aamer Anwar & Co’s decision to stop taking legal aid cases depicts a very sad situation in Scotland. The fact that that decision has been the result of the Scottish government’s lack of commitment to funding a fair legal aid system and access to justice for more than a decade is nothing short of tragic and a stain on our justice system.

The article refers to increased spending on the prosecution service at the same time as underfunding legal aid.

The article reminded me of a famous quote. Most will know the quote routinely attributed falsely to Edmund Burke: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” 

The legal aid defence lawyers getting paid little or nothing are now being forced into doing no legal aid. The good men and women in our government who can actually change the situation for the greater good are doing nothing to fix our broken legal aid system and ensure access to justice. As Mr Anwar states, the system has been decimated.

Patricia S. Quigley WS, FLSS