The Scottish Parliament is in recess from 28 June to 31 August. We will respond to petitions as soon as we can.
If your petition is seeking emergency action or an urgent policy change, we would advise you to contact one of your 8 MSPs or the Scottish Government directly. Please be aware that the public petitions process is a thorough and often lengthy process and is not designed to respond to emergencies.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
The Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Team
Under consideration 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.
14 signatures
This petition is now under consideration
Click here for further information about the consideration of this petition.