This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Legal complaints handling set for reform
11/05/2005
New proposals from Scottish Ministers to improve
arrangements for handling complaints against lawyers in
Scotland have been published for consultation today.
At present, those making a complaint against a solicitor
are encouraged to resolve this directly with the solicitor
or law firm - failing this, the Law Society of Scotland can
investigate. Complaints against advocates are dealt with by
the Faculty of Advocates. The Scottish Legal Services
Ombudsman (SLSO) considers any complaints about the way in
which these two bodies have handled a complaint.
The main options for reforming the present structure
are:
- increasing the investigatory and enforcement powers
of the SLSO ;
- making the office of the SLSO a 'single gateway' to
receive and sift all complaints where local resolution
has not been possible, with wider powers to monitor the
complaints handling processes of the professional
bodies;
- turning the office of the SLSO into a single
gateway which would itself investigate most
complaints;
- creating a new independent complaints handling
body, with a board led by a lay chair and with a lay
majority.
These build on recommendations made by the Justice 1
Committee in the first session of the Scottish Parliament -
they favoured retaining the current system of
self-regulation of complaints handling by the professional
bodies, but recommended a number of measures to make the
system more accountable and subject to a greater degree of
independent oversight.
Launching the consultation, Justice Minister Cathy
Jamieson said:
"Efficient and effective justice services founded on the
basic principles of fairness and equality are central to
delivering the peaceful, prosperous Scotland we all want to
live in. Legal services in the private sector - and those
supported through publicly-funded legal assistance - are
important to our society and to our economy.
"This paper sets out ways in which we can build greater
public confidence in how complaints about legal services
are handled. A range of possible reforms built around the
central principle that users of legal services must be at
the heart of the regulation of those services.
"We are inviting views on introducing more independence
and oversight into the complaints handling system to ensure
that it is more representative of the public interest.
"Lawyers - like politicians - often get a bad press. The
reality is that most people receive an excellent
professional service from their lawyer. But when things go
wrong, the road to a satisfactory resolution of a complaint
can sometimes be a long and difficult one. Consumers have
become much more aware of their rights in recent years, and
clients with a justified complaint expect it to be well
handled and speedily resolved.
"An efficient, transparent and accountable complaints
handling system is essential. Substantial progress has
undoubtedly been made since the Justice 1 committee report,
but more needs to be done. I look forward to hearing from
those who use legal services, and those who provide them,
on how best to take this forward."
Justice Ministers' commitment to improve redress for
aggrieved consumers was demonstrated in recent steps taken
to increase the level of compensation which may be paid to
clients whose solicitors are responsible for providing
inadequate professional services. The maximum compensation
payable to a client increased from £1,000 to £5,000 with
effect from 1 April 2005.
Following an inquiry into
Regulation of the Legal Profession, the Justice 1
committee's report was published on 27 November 2002.
Both legal professional bodies have introduced reforms
to their complaints procedures since this report (see
details in Appendix A of consultation paper).
The consultation paper acknowledges developments in
England and Wales, particularly the
Clementi Review of the regulatory framework for legal
services which was published on 15 December 2004. This
includes a recommendation to set up an independent
complaints body for England and Wales, the Office for Legal
Complaints.