JOHN Swinney has said he will probe whether the Scottish Legal Aid Board was right to fund a case by an American woman over a row about her dog not being allowed into a cafe.
The First Minister was asked about the civil legal action brought by Claire Kellerman against the Bernera Community Association in the Outer Hebrides.
Kellerman initially launched a court challenge against the wrong charity – the Bernera Development Trust – which ran up legal costs of £7000. Her lawyers then admitted in court that the action was directed against the wrong organisation.
Bernera Community Association has warned that it faces bankruptcy due to thousands of pounds of legal costs mounting following the court challenge.
Kellerman’s case was brought over a claim that her dog was denied access to a community cafe.
Legal documents have since been amended to bring a claim against the Bernera Community Association, which runs the cafe voluntarily, for £10,000.
Raising the issue at backbencher First Minister's Questions at Holyrood on Tuesday, Scottish Labour MSP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar Donald MacKinnon said: “The First Minister will be aware of the civil legal action supported by the Scottish Legal Aid Board against Bernera Community Association in my constituency.
“Does the First Minister share my concerns about the award of legal aid in this case, and has this prompted any discussions within his government about the legal aid process?”
The First Minister said he would “have to look” at the specific case that MacKinnon had raised.
“I'm not directly familiar with that, but decisions about legal aid are obviously taken within the legislative framework independently by the Scottish Legal Aid Board,” Swinney said.
“Obviously, Parliament legislates for the framework within which the Scottish Legal Aid Board works, and if there are issues arising out of particular cases of the nature that Mr Mackinnon has raised, then obviously Parliament has the opportunity to reflect on that.
“But if Mr Mackinnon would care to write to me with details of his concerns, I will have them explored to satisfy myself that the Scottish Legal Aid Board has properly pursued the correct approach in the awarding of legal aid in this case.”
In August, the case raised by Kellerman via the publicly-funded Ethnic Minorities Law Centre in Glasgow, a non-profit making charity which provides legal advocacy for minority ethnic communities, was decided to continue for legal debate in December at a Stornoway Sheriff Court.
However, the Association, which provides community services on Bernera, has warned that it faces potential bankruptcy if legal costs continue to mount with the organisation having to divert normal fund-raising efforts into legal fees to fight Kellerman’s case.
While costs were awarded to the Trust, the organisation has said it was of no value since Legal Aid protects Kellerman from payment of costs.
