A STANDING conference on justice will be launched in Glasgow tomorrow,
which, its founders say, will fill the vacuum left by the Government's
''repeated refusal'' to agree to an independent review of the legal
system in Scotland.
One of the founders of the conference, Mr Alan Miller, chairman of the
Scottish Council for Civil Liberties, said: ''Our system of justice is
now widely recognised as failing to provide access, accountability and
answers to the problems experienced by today's citizens.''
The idea for the conference was born out of the frustration
experienced by the Glasgow Bar Association at trying to win over public
opinion in the fight against cuts in civil legal aid.
Mr Miller explained: ''I suggested that this was symptomatic of the
situation where, time after time, a particular group fighting its corner
is isolated. I thought it was time for a more imaginative initiative
where all the players in the legal system could be brought together.
''Everyone involved in the system, including practising lawyers and
the voluntary sector, wants an independent review to be carried out. At
the moment law reform is carried out by the Government in a piecemeal
way with motives that are doubtful, usually Treasury-driven and, in the
case of civil legal aid, to solve an English problem.''
One of the aims of tomorrow's meeting is to elect an interim committee
to work over the summer before the conference is reconvened in the
autumn to adopt a constitution, hold elections, and decide on a
programme.
The standing conference will respond not only to Government proposals
and draft legislation, but present positive proposals of its own on law
reform.
Mr Miller hopes the conference will represent a cross section of
people involved in the legal system. A consultative meeting last month
was attended by the then president of the Law Society as well as
representatives from the Glasgow and Edinburgh Bar Associations, the
Scottish Child Law Centre, Scottish Consumer Council, and the Scottish
Legal Action Group.
Interest has also been expressed by Cosla, the Scottish Liberal
Democrats, the STUC, and Women's Aid.
Mr Miller accepts that it would not be appropriate for the public
sector, such as fiscals, clerks of court, and police, to be members of
the conference but thinks they should be consulted and their views taken
into account.
''The standing conference will be, from its inception, the broadest
ever gathering of expertise and experience on our justice system,''
added Mr Miller.
His hope is that the standing conference will be instrumental in
monitoring and improving the Scottish justice system ''in a more
dignified, less partisan and more comprehensive way.
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