Lawyers will consider the new offer on 7 August

Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry made the pay offer during talks with the Law Society of Scotland on Friday.

The society said the minister's offer of 8% for court work and 12% for other work would be considered on 7 August.

Scotland's biggest group of defence lawyers, the Glasgow Bar Association, threatened to refuse to act in new sex crime cases until a rise was agreed.

It made the announcement in June and other bar associations soon followed.

The action had been due to begin on 1 August but was suspended for a month so talks could be held on reaching a deal.

'Force of argument'

Oliver Adair, convener of the society's legal aid committee, said: "We have met the minister who has recognised the force of our arguments.

"He has amended the offer to 8% for court work and 12% for other work, backdated to work commenced after December 1, 2005.

"We will be consulting the profession immediately and the new offer will then be considered at a special meeting of the Council of the Law Society of Scotland on August 7th."

The Scottish Executive had been accused of failing to increase legal aid fees in line with court reforms.

A previous offer of 8% for court work and 5% for other work was dismissed as derisory.

Lawyers claim there has been no increase in criminal legal aid fees since 1992 and an interim pay offer has been described as unacceptably low.

The new block payment fees were introduced for civil cases in October 2003.

If the lawyers' action does go ahead it could cause major disruption in courts as sex offenders are not allowed to represent themselves.