PDSO history - how we have developed in Scotland

This page gives you information about how the PDSO has developed and its services in Scotland. PDSO provides advice and legal representation in all criminal matters from offices across Scotland.

What is PDSO, the Public Defence Solicitors' Office?

The Public Defence Solicitors' Office (PDSO) opened on 1 October 1998 at 37 York Place, Edinburgh. It was the first public defender service in the UK.

The Edinburgh pilot was established by the Crime and Punishment ( Scotland) Act, 1997 to provide legal advice, assistance and representation in court for those who cannot afford to pay for it. It handles criminal cases in all of the courts in Edinburgh.

In 2003, Scottish Ministers announced that two further PDSO offices would be opened in Glasgow and Inverness by 30 June 2004.

 

What are the PDSO's key objectives?

PDSO objectives are to:

• provide proper, appropriate, timely and independent advice to, and representation for, eligible clients which is:
• consistent with the solicitors' professional responsibilities as solicitors and officers of the court
• in accordance with the Scottish Legal Aid Board's Code of Practice in relation to criminal legal assistance
• in accordance with the legal aid legislation
• guided by the principle of due regard to economy
• provide information to assist the Scottish Legal Aid Board (the Board)
• identify potential improvements to the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the PDSO and to implement them in a controlled manner.

Who can use the PDSO?

Any person involved in a criminal case who is eligible for legal aid can choose to use the PDSO. Therefore anyone requiring legal help, regardless of who they are or when they were born, is free to choose either a private solicitor or a PDSO lawyer to represent them.

What about direction?

PDSO's enabling legislation required that an independent research project would report to parliament by 2001. To facilitate this research, cases in the start up period were directed to PDSO by the date of birth of the accused. This meant that persons born in January or February of any year could only obtain criminal legal aid in summary matters from PDSO.

From 1 July 2000, the system of direction was abolished. PDSO now attracts cases through word of mouth, returning business and a share of the summary duty scheme in Edinburgh. Thus from 1 July 2000 the only people to use PDSO have been people that have chosen its service.

There is also no direction of people using the other PDSO offices. 

 

How does the PDSO work?

When someone goes to PDSO, a public defence solicitor listens to his or her case, gives advice and takes instructions. The client's case is then fully investigated and prepared, and they are kept informed of progress. They will be represented at every court hearing. If required, PDSO can also give information about other agencies, which can offer help with problems such as drug and alcohol abuse.

 

Are the public defence solicitors governed by the same rules as private solicitors?

Yes. Public defence solicitors are bound by the Law Society of Scotland's practice rules and Code of Conduct to act in the best interests of the client. They also have to comply with the Board's Code of Practice for solicitors carrying out criminal legal assistance work.

 

How are the public defence solicitors paid?

Public defence solicitors are paid a fixed annual salary, rather than being paid on a case by case basis in the way that private solicitors operate.

This means that PDSO does not submit accounts for payment. However, PDSO keeps records of work done and the time spent on each case, in order to allow evaluation of the scheme.

 

What is the Scottish Legal Aid Board's role in PDSO?

The Director of PDSO, reports to the Board's Chief Executive on administrative issues. In all other ways, PDSO operates entirely independently and it is the responsibility of the Director to determine the way the office operates and to make decisions on individual cases.

The Board assesses applications for criminal legal assistance submitted by the public defence solicitors in exactly the same way as those submitted by private solicitors.

 

What about the research into the PDSO?

The legislation that set up PDSO required that Scottish Ministers published a report into the operation of PDSO within three years. A substantial and detailed research report was published by the Scottish Executive in September 2001, raising issues for PDSO, private solicitors and the wider justice community.

The research was conducted in the early stages of PDSO, when the office was running under capacity and was less cost effective than is the case now. At that stage there was no significant difference in price or case outcome, although it did report that PDSO had potential to be substantially cheaper.

The main financial benefits brought out by the report at that early stage were that the shorter trajectory of PDSO cases (PDSO cases involved fewer court hearings) meant that the most significant savings were to the courts and the prosecution service, estimated to be as much as 16% overall, and also in terms of a reduction in wasted witness time.

 

How many cases has PDSO dealt with and what does it cost now?

After the first 18 months or so of the Edinburgh PDSO being established, business costs have fallen year on year. PDSO now costs substantially less than at the time of the research.

Year	Total cost PDSO	Number of cases handled by PDSO	Number of accused persons represented by PDSO as duty solicitor
1998/1999	£405,000	417	-
1999/2000	£430,000	1,034 (inc 1 solemn)	-
2000/2001	£390,000	1,202 (inc 26 solemn)	-
2001/2002	£357,000	1,194 (inc 34 solemn)	-
2002/2003	£344,000	1,123 (inc 25 solemn)	1,092
2003/2004	£376,000	1,196 (inc 28 solemn)	930
2004/2005	£827,000	1,565 (inc 54 solemn)	1,142
2005/2006	£793,000	1,743 ( inc 89 solemn)	1,060
2006/2007	£864,000	1,491 ( inc 77 solemn)	597
2007/2008	£1,321,000	1,907 ( inc 75 solemn)	1,548

 

(Source: the Scottish Legal Aid Board annual reports)

In addition to the above PDSO caseload, PDSO has put through a large number of cases at the custody court for other solicitors as part of the service when operating as duty lawyers.

The first expansion of PDSO offices

How did Minister's take forward the research findings?

Ministers considered that the pilot had been worthwhile and had generated a lot of useful information on how the criminal legal aid system was working. They announced their intention to continue the PDSO Edinburgh office and to create up to two more offices in different places when the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Bill was introduced in the Scottish Parliament in March 2002

Justice Minister Cathy Jamieson said: "The Public Defence Solicitors Office is part of our overall policy in continuing to modernise legal aid by developing more efficiency and choice in the provision of legal services."

"Extending the pilots outwith Edinburgh to bring in Glasgow and Inverness courts will enable us to make better comparisons between public defence and private solicitors in terms of cost, quality, client satisfaction and the wider impact on the criminal justice system. Comparisons which will allow us to determine whether the PDSO offers an efficient and effective alternative."

"Initial research into the Edinburgh pilot office indicated that the use of public defenders, working alongside private solicitors, shows potential benefits - such as cases being completed in less time. The new pilot offices will provide further information, in different geographical contexts, on how effective access to justice can be provided."

 

How were the locations for the two new offices chosen?

Following the passing of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003, the Scottish Executive asked the Scottish Legal Aid Board to conduct an analysis of potential locations. In assessing these, the Board took into account Ministers' views (set out in the policy memorandum to the (then) Criminal Justice Bill) that additional PDSOs "would provide an opportunity for increasing the workload without severely affecting local businesses; and would enable us to examine whether a public defence service would make sense in a rural setting".

The Board assessed several locations, including two rural areas, taking into account the local legal markets, using information on volumes of business, numbers of firms and operation of duty plans.

 

What will be learnt from the new offices?

Glasgow is the busiest court in Scotland with a diverse advice and community environment, which could allow a more holistic approach to criminal defence work to be explored.

The office in Inverness will also serve the surrounding rural areas and courts. This PDSO will enable lessons to be learned about the challenges of practice in a rural area.

Provisions within the Criminal Justice ( Scotland) Act 2003 require Scottish Ministers to publish further research on PDSO by December 31, 2008.

 

When did the new offices open?

The PDSO office in Inverness, serving the Highlands and Moray, opened in May 2004. The Glasgow office also began providing services in May 2004 across Strathclyde and west central Scotland.

The second expansion of PDSO

In autumn 2006, the Deputy Justice Minister announced a further expansion of PDSO, with a further six offices to open in 2007 in Dundee, Aberdeen, Falkirk, Ayr, Dumfries and Kirkwall.

Offices opened by summer 2007 in Kirkwall, Dundee, Falkirk and Ayr.

 

Where is PDSO located and how do I contact your offices?

You can find our office locations on our contact details page.

If you wish further details about the PDSO's services, please contact our Business Manager on 0131 557 1222.