§ The Joint Under-Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Niall Macpherson)With your permission, Mr. Speaker, and that of the House, I wish to make a short personal statement.
Yesterday, in reply to a supplementary to Question No. 37 put by my hon. Friend the Member for Ayrshire, Central (Mr. Nairn), in referring to appeals to the High Court of Justiciary in Scotland, I said:
legal aid is available."—[OFFICIAL REPORT, 12th May, 1959; Vol. 605, c. 1037.]To avoid misunderstanding, I wish to make it clear that legal aid under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act, 1949, is not available in such cases. I should add, however, that many members of the legal profession are prepared, in suitable summary appeal cases, to give their services free of charge, or at a fee fitted to the pocket of the appellant.I wish to apologise if I misled the House.