Court reform delay questioned in Commons
7 Nov 05
Perth MP wants progress on freeing up legal representation
A Scottish MP has tabled four written questions at Westminster asking why people other than solicitors and advocates cannot be paid to represent clients in the Scottish courts.
Peter Wishart, SNP member for Perth and North Perthshire is questioning why reforms aimed at removing this restriction, enacted 16 years ago through sections 25-29 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 were never implemented.
Ministers at the time undertook to remove the ban once other reforms in the 1990 Act had been put in place and been given time to bed down, but this has still not taken place. Both the Office of Fair Trading and the House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee have indicated their interest in the issue.
Members of the Institute of Legal Executives and the Chartered Institute of Patent Agents in England and Wales can represent clients in court and get paid for it.
Mr Wishart has asked the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith about any talks he has had with the Scottish Executive about starting the process of removing the ban and whether his department looked at the implications for the legal services sector in Scotland of the failure to remove the ban. He has also asked Baroness Clarke, the Advocate General for Scotland, similar questions.