In this article in the Scotsman, the Minister for Children and Young People, Adam Ingram MSP is quoted as saying that paying for lawyers for vulnerable adults at the Children’s Panel is a “moral duty”.

In the face of opposition concerns that new regulations would lead to an increasingly legalistic approach at children’s hearings, the Minister said, in relation to parents with limited literacy and language skills: “how can we honestly expect them to have their say, to put their perspective across, without help and support?”

Quite so.

I am reminded, in listening to this, in comments made by the same Minister about representation of parents before a different statutory Tribunal – the Additional Support Needs Tribunal which is (I would argue) a more legally complex forum – “I want to make lawyers redundant in the tribunal situation, which we can do through the rules and procedures of the tribunal.”.

Posted on Absolvitor: Scots Law Online.