The Quiet Collapse of the Defense: Is the SNP Starving the Presumption of Innocence?
In Scotland, the prosecution grows stronger as the defence is quietly priced out of existence.
February 18, 2026
In the High Court in Edinburgh, a pillar of Scottish justice is being dismantled. It is not happening with a gavel’s strike or a legislative flourish. It is happening through silence, spreadsheets, and starvation.
While the Scottish National Party (SNP) government champions its “Victims, Witnesses, and Justice Reform” agenda, the principle of “Equality of Arms” has become a myth. The state’s sword is well-funded, while the citizen’s shield is breaking.
Sources used in this article:
- https://www.gov.scot/publications/scottish-budget-2026-2027/pages/9/
- https://www.lawscot.org.uk/news-and-events/law-society-news/13-legal-aid-fee-rise-a-lifeline-for-access-to-justice/
- https://www.theyworkforyou.com/sp/?id=2026-01-28.1.66
- https://www.slab.org.uk/news/reform-vital-for-scotlands-legal-aid-system-despite-record-annual-spend/
The Starvation Strategy
As of February 2026, the disparity is presented as stark. The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) has seen its budget bolstered to “address backlogs” and “modernise prosecutions”. Meanwhile, solicitors who defend the wrongly accused have faced years of stagnant fees against rising costs.
The Scottish Government has announced a 13% increase in legal aid fees, set to take effect in September 2026. To a casual observer, this sounds like progress. To many in criminal defence, it is framed as an insult after a decade of stagnation and inflation.
“A justice system that only funds the accuser is not a justice system; it is a processing plant for convictions. When the defense collapses, the presumption of innocence is the first casualty.”
The Funding Chasm: Arms, but No Equality
To understand the crisis, the article points to the Scottish Budget for 2026/27. It argues that, adjusting for inflation, “record spend” can conceal real-terms pressure that drives solicitors out of defence work.
The Justice Gap: Budget Allocations 2024–2027
| Financial Year | COPFS (Prosecution) | Legal Aid Fund (Defense) | The “Conviction Gap” |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | £22m Increase (Base £210m+) | £164.6m | State advantage +£45m |
| 2025-26 | Sustained Growth | £165.6m | State advantage +£50m+ |
| 2026-27 (Proj) | High-Priority Funding | £170.5m | State advantage Widening |
The claim is not that spending on prosecution is illegitimate. It is that the balance matters when liberty is at stake, and that sustained imbalance quietly erodes the presumption of innocence.
The Rise of the Legal Aid Desert
A consequence described is the emergence of “Legal Aid Deserts”. In rural Scotland, and increasingly in urban hubs, accused people can struggle to find a firm willing or able to take a case under legal aid.
The piece cites Law Society of Scotland data that nearly one-third of defence practitioners are set to retire within the next few years. It argues that younger lawyers are drawn to COPFS or private commercial work where the pay is higher and the workload is more sustainable.
In places such as the Highlands or the Borders, the practical result described is that the right to a lawyer can exist mainly on paper, even before the quality question is reached.
Efficiency or Coercion?
The SNP’s “Summary Case Management” pilot is described as being rolled out nationwide with the stated goal of efficiency and backlog reduction.
The article argues that in a system where defence work is under-resourced, “efficiency” can resemble coercion: early pleas become the path of least resistance when there is insufficient time or funding to test alibis, challenge expert evidence, or investigate properly.
On that view, the system shifts away from truth-seeking and towards throughput.
The Constitutional Crisis
The abolition of the Not Proven verdict earlier this year is presented as removing a historic expression of residual doubt. The argument made is that, without a robust and well-funded defence bar, the removal of that option reduces safeguards for the innocent in closely balanced cases.
The article frames this as engaging the spirit of Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, including the right to adequate time and facilities to prepare a defence. It argues that chronic underfunding can make the contest structurally unfair.
Conclusion: The Shield Must Be Mended
The “Quiet Collapse” of the defence is described as a major legal scandal. The claim is that prioritising the machinery of prosecution while starving the architecture of defence does not merely reform the law, but poisons it.
If Scotland wants legitimacy in convictions, the argument runs, the shield must be mended: the defence must be viable, independent, and properly resourced.
Final word
An innocent man in Scotland today should be terrified. Not just of the charges against him, but of the fact that when he reaches out for the shield of the law, he may find there is no one left to hold it.
Editorial note: Accused.scot is an independent commentary site focused on justice process, evidence, and fair-trial principles in Scotland. Our work critiques systems, policy, and public discourse, not private individuals. We welcome reasoned challenge to our arguments. We do not engage in personal disputes or online pile-ons.