The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee will conclude its work in March 2026 ahead of the next Scottish Parliament election. While it will continue to meet, the Committee has agreed it will not consider petitions submitted after 10 October. This is to ensure all petitions currently in the system can be considered before the next Scottish Parliament election. It is also unlikely that the Committee would be able to schedule and meaningfully progress petitions submitted after 10 October before the election. Contact the Committee team at petitions.committee@parliament.scot for more information about the petitions process.

If you are seeking emergency action or an urgent policy change please contact one of your 8 MSPs or the Scottish Government directly

Closed petition PE2168: Guarantee Legal Aid for "Death or Serious Injury" victims in legal action against Police Scotland

Calling on the Scottish Parliament to urge the Scottish Government to grant Legal Aid to all victims and their families when medical evidence confirms that a "Death or Serious Injury" incident occurred during an interaction with Police Scotland personnel.

Background information

Victims have to incur great expense for lawyers to seek justice, whilst Police Scotland have access to an army of state lawyers at taxpayers cost. Recent BBC coverage of the Sheku Bayoh case and Angela Constance’s comments stating that legal aid will now be available to families involved in FAIs is too late, people have died and families are seeking justice. I believe that Legal Aid (no means testing) should be made available to all victims and families of medically confirmed "Death or Serious Injuries" not just those involved in FAIs.

  • Created by Steven McInally
  • Date closed 8 October 2025

This petition was considered by the Scottish Parliament

Find out about the decisions taken on this petition

17 signatures