News In Focus
31 August 2011
Society and SCDEA to share information on suspect lawyers
Information about lawyers suspected of involvement with organised crime in Scotland is to be shared between the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency, through an agreement signed today.
Under the "information sharing protocol", there is for the first time a formal mechanism in place that is designed to help disrupt the activities of the 360 serious and organised crime groupings identified through SCDEA's ongoing mapping exercise.
SCDEA believes that there are 291 professional people of all descriptions working with the gangs, and has already entered a similar agreement with the chartered accountants' body ICAS. With today's agreement in place, any solicitors who actively further the ends of criminal gangs – or simply turn a blind eye to the illegality – will be closely monitored for possible breaches of professional rules and standards as well as any criminal activity.
Gordon Meldrum, director general of SCDEA, who signed the agreement along with Society President Cameron Ritchie, said he believed that a very small number of solicitors were involved. Their motives might be simple financial reward if they were doing it knowingly, or acting through naivety or attraction to the mystique of the gangs – and if the latter, they always found themselves going on to be intimidated or blackmailed to do further work. He appealed to anyone finding themselves caught up in this way to come clean to their professional body for their own sake.
Mr Ritchie said the two bodies had already worked together informally, but the importance of the agreement was that it gave each side confidence as to what the other would do with the information – who would see it, how it would be kept, what would be done with it, thus helping to avoid Data Protection Act and Human Right Act issues.
He emphasised that it would not involve any encroachment on legal professional privilege, or monitoring of solicitors acting in a criminal defence capacity. The Society was acting to protect the standards and reputation of the whole solicitor profession, as well as in the public interest in the prevention of crime.