Scotland's legal aid system is to come under close scrutiny by a parliamentary committee.

The Justice and Home Affairs Committee has announced the terms of its inquiry.

It will assess the impact of recent changes in the system for criminal and civil cases.

Committee convener Alasdair Morgan said: "The purpose of our inquiry will be to consider the extent to which the legal aid system secures access to justice in a number of different situations.

"For example, our committee may investigate whether people on certain income levels face difficulties accessing justice due to the limitations in the availability of legal aid.

"Indeed it may even be appropriate to look at whether people in different parts of Scotland receive the same level of access to legal advice."

Evidence invited

The police, Scottish Legal Aid Board, the Law Society of Scotland, Victim Support Scotland and Citizens' Advice Scotland are among the groups invited to give evidence to the inquiry.

The board recently expressed concern about a drop in the number of applications for help in civil cases.

In its annual report, the board said expenditure on aid in 1999/2000 had fallen to �127m, down �11m on the previous year.

Criminal case applications rose fractionally during the past year, up by 1% to 64,818. But the number of requests for civil aid dropped by 3.3% to 23,106.

Since 1993 there has been a 46% drop in the number of grants to help people pursue civil cases.