A Highland woman has appealed for legal aid to be made available for people involved in defamation cases.
Catherine Fraser, of Kiltarlity, near Beauly, said it was “immoral” and a “total mockery” of the justice system to deny people financial help to defend themselves.
In 2010, she was ordered to pay £5,000 after being involved in a civil defamation case.
Ms Fraser told the Scottish Parliament’s public petitions committee that talking from her own “private experience” there was a major failing in the system.
“Right of appeal serves very little purpose if it is not accessible to everyone who has gone through the court system,” she said.
“No innocent person should be left in a position of being found guilty and wrongfully punished with no means of challenging the decision whether it be a civil or criminal matter.”
She added: “To have the knowledge that a court decision is wrong is devastating but being unable to challenge the decision because a person cannot afford to is immoral and makes a total mockery of what the justice system stands for.”
A limited amount of legal aid is available following the ‘McLibel’ case that went all the way to the European Court of Human Rights. It involved two campaigners who were denied legal aid after being accused of defamation by fast-food chain McDonalds for handing out leaflets attacking their practices.
Ms Fraser told the committee that while the case helped, it did not go far enough.
The committee agreed to write to the Scottish Government, the Scottish Legal Aid Board, Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Human Rights Commission.
One of the questions they want clarified is under what “exceptional circumstances” is legal aid available, and how many such cases there have been.