Society's watchdog warning over bill

Legal bodies give evidence today on complaints handling bill

News, 2 May 2006

The Law Society of Scotland will today warns MSPs of serious flaws in the proposals for a Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC).

The Society will join the Faculty of Advocates, the Scottish Legal Action Group and the Scottish Law Agents Society in voicing concerns about the proposals in evidence before Holyrood's Justice 2 Committee. They see the Executive's Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill as threatening the rule of law because the SLCC will not be independent of government.

The proposed SLCC will be chaired by a non-lawyer and have a non-lawyer majority on its board. It will be funded by a levy on the profession and able to order solicitors and advocates to pay up to £20,000 compensation to clients for inadequate professional service - four times the current maximum.

In its presentation the Society will highlight the recent opinion of Lord Lester of Herne Hill QC, who advised that the bill's proposals would not comply with the European Convention on Human Rights, as there is no right to appeal commission decisions to an independent judicial body.

It also argues that the £20,000 compensation limit could undermine access to justice and deter lawyers from taking on legal aid work.

The SLCC, it says, will be more expensive than the current system, but may not necessarily produce a better way of dealing with complaints.

Speaking in advance of the committee hearing, the Society's Presiident, Caroline Flanagan said:

“The proposed system must be better than the current one but already the Society has had to raise repeatedly its strong concerns repeatedly that the bill

may not comply with human rights law;
could create legal advice deserts for people in Scotland;
is over-complicated; and
is costed on guesstimates, as the Scottish Executive has now said in evidence.

That is a real concern for the profession and their clients, which is perhaps why there have, we hear, been over 600 responses to the Justice 2 Committee’s call for written evidence – significantly more than to the consultation.”

The Scottish Law Agents Society has warned that the system could become "a claimant's bonanza".

A spokesperson for the Scottish Executive said ministers had determined that the bill was ECHR compliant, but that the contrary legal opinion put forward by the Law Society of Scotland was also being considered.