Committee worried over threat to independence
25 Jul 06
Joint committee has "real concerns" over UK Government's draft Legal Services Bill
The UK government's draft Legal Services Bill could threaten the independence of the legal profession.
That is the opinion of a joint House of Lords and Commons parliamentary select committee, whose report on the draft bill, published today, voices the committee's particular concern that the Lord Chancellor would be allowed to appoint the chairman and members of the new Legal Services Board.
The committee wants the bill amended so that full consultation takes place with the Lord Chief Justice and the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee of the House of Commons, before appointments are made.
It also recommends that after becoming operational the Board would set up its own nominations committee as part of the appointment process for the future.
Lord Hunt of Wirral, the chair of the joint committee, said it was vital that the public and the industry believed the legal profession to be independent of government.
The committee had "some very real concerns" about the proposals, he added. "The draft Legal Services Bill departs from the recommendations of Sir David Clementi in a number of important respects and it is essential the Government should explain each of those departures fully."
Most of the committee's substantive recommendations prefer proposals set out in the Clementi report to those of the bill.
The committee's worries echo similar concerns raised earlier this year about the Scottish Executive's proposed Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill, under which members of the proposed Complaints Commission would be appointed by the Scottish Executive.