Society seeks appointment of non-solicitors
7 May 07
Legislative change needed for restructuring proposal for Society's Council
The Law Society of Scotland is seeking an amendment to the Legal Services Bill at Westminster to give it the power to appoint non-lawyers to its Council for the first time in its history.
The Society has already appointed four non-lawyers as observers to its Council. They have speaking rights, but cannot be given full Council member status without legislative change. The governing Council has been made up entirely of solicitors since the Society was established in 1949.
Michael Clancy, the Society's Director of Law Reform, said: "Following the success of a trial of four non-solicitor observers on Council, the Law Society of Scotland agreed to press for a change to the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 to allow observers to become members of Council.
"The Legal Services Bill going through the House of Lords was a timely opportunity for the Society to put forward an amendment.
"The amendment, if accepted by the House of Lords, will widen the membership of the Society's Council, which represents the interests of the Scottish solicitors' profession and the public in relation to the profession."
SCC backing
The move is backed by the Scottish Consumer Council, as it believes this will allow the Society to fulfil its statutory duty to represent the interests of the public in matters that relate to the legal profession. The SCC says it would like to see a Council made up of a majority of non-solicitors.
The Society’s proposed amendment to the bill, which has been laid by Lord Hunt of Wirral and Lord Kingsland, is expected to be debated tomorrow (8 May) in the House of Lords.
The SCC believes the Society should continue to have a role in promoting the public interest, but the structure of its governing council needs to change to ensure that the views of non-solicitors are better represented.
Martyn Evans, Director of the Scottish Consumer Council, said: “We congratulate the Law Society of Scotland for pursuing this amendment. This is vital to ensure that the Society’s role in promoting the public interest in matters relating to the legal profession receives a balanced consideration.
“If this amendment is successful, we would urge the Society to make the best use of this opportunity by radically restructuring the system to ensure that the governing Council has a majority of non-solicitor members in future.”