LEGAL PROFESSION
The Legal Services Policy Team within the Access to Justice Division of the Civil and International Justice Directorate deals with policy issues relating to the regulation of the legal profession in Scotland. The legal professions in Scotland comprise:
Solicitors who can give advice on any aspect of law as long as they have the necessary knowledge. This requirement is part of their Code of Conduct. Advice can cover a wide range of subjects, including family and business matters. Solicitors can represent clients in the district and sheriff courts.
The Law Society of Scotland regulates solicitors under statute. The Society promotes both the interests of solicitors in Scotland and the interests of the public in relation to the profession. The Society deals with such matters as admission, professional education and training, standard setting and discipline of solicitors. More information on solicitors and their Code of Conduct is available here.
Advocates otherwise known as "counsel" are lawyers who receive special training in representing a party in proceedings before any court in Scotland. They receive instructions from a solicitor rather than an individual party and cannot refuse to take a case.
Advocates are members of the Scottish Bar, regulated under statute by the Faculty of Advocates. An elected Dean leads the Faculty, which controls its own admissions and discipline, and trains and prepares candidates for admission to the Bar. More information on advocates is available at http://www.advocates.org.uk
Solicitor-advocates are experienced solicitors who have undertaken specialist training in court pleading. Since 1990, they have had rights of audience equal to advocates in the High Court of Justiciary and the Court of Session. They are members of the Law Society of Scotland and regulated by that body. More information on solicitor advocates is available at http://www.solicitoradvocates.org
Conveyancing and Executry Practitioners who respectively provide advice on such matters as the transfer of property and the winding up and administration of a deceased's estate. They work for solicitors and local authorities or as independent practitioners who provide a service directly to the public. The Law Society of Scotland regulates practitioners. Its website is http://www.lawscot.org.uk
The Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman who Scottish Ministers appoint. The Ombudsman is independent of Ministers and the legal professional bodies, and is not a solicitor. The Ombudsman looks into complaints about how a professional body (the Law Society of Scotland, and the Faculty of Advocates) has handled a complaint against a legal practitioner. More information on the Ombudsman is available at http://www.slso.org.uk
Complaints against the legal profession
If you are concerned about the quality of service you have received from a solicitor or advocate or about the behaviour of a legal practitioner, you should in the first instance try to resolve your complaint direct with them. However, if you are unsuccessful in resolving the problem, you can complaint to the legal practitioner's professional body - either the Law Society of Scotland or the Faculty of Advocates.
Should you be dissatisfied with the way in which the professional body has handled your complaint, you can contact the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman.
Because Parliament has decided that responsibility for dealing with complaints should lie with the professional bodies and the Ombudsman, it is not possible for Scottish Ministers to comment on, or intervene in, individual cases of complaints.
Regulation of the legal profession
The regulation of the legal profession was the subject of an inquiry by the Justice 1 Committee. Click here for the Committee's findings.
As a follow-up to the inquiry by the Parliament's Justice 1 Committee into regulation of the legal profession, the Executive published its proposals for reforming the system for handling complaints against lawyers through a consultation paper which was issued on 11 May 2005. Our aim is to build public confidence in complaints handling arrangements by bringing them into line with modern consumer expectations.
The views of those who use legal services and those who provide them are both essential to the reform process. Views on our proposals were invited from stakeholders and interested members of the public through the consultation paper. You can view the consultation paper here. The consultation period ended on 3 August 2005.
The Scottish Executive has commissioned research into the legal services markets in Scotland. The research was guided by a working group which includes representatives of consumer interests and the legal professional bodies. The working group was chaired by the Justice Department and includes senior academic researchers working in the fields of law, economics and consumer rights. Click here for the working group's papers.
The Research Working Group Report was published on 3 May 2006.
Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007
The Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Bill was introduced in Parliament on 1 March 2006 and was passed following the Stage 3 parliamentary debate on 14 December 2006. The Act has two main purposes: firstly; it reforms the system of handling complaints against the legal profession by the creation of a new statutory body called the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and secondly, it improves the delivery of all forms of publicly funded legal assistance. Further information can be found here.
Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC)
The SLCC will receive complaints about the legal practitioners where local resolution between legal practitioner and client has been attempted but has proved unsuccessful. The Commission will investigate complaints about service and will delegate complaints about conduct to the relevant professional body. However, the Commission will have an oversight role in relation to how the professional body investigates conduct complaints. It is anticipated that the Commission will become operational in late 2008.
Alternative business structures in the Scottish legal profession
On 8 May 2007, the consumer organisation "Which?" submitted a super-complaint to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), under the provisions of s11 of the Enterprise Act 2002. The super-complaint asserted that restrictions imposed on the legal profession harmed the interests of consumers. It also submitted that the regulatory structure should be reformed and that a Scottish Legal Services Board should be created in line with changes that are taking place in England and Wales under the Legal Services Act 2007.
In its response, the OFT recommends that by the end of 2007 the Scottish Government should publish a statement which details its policy views on:
· how it considers legal services in Scotland should be regulated;
· how the restrictions outlined in the super-complaint can be lifted; and
· a timing commitment for these aims.
The OFT further recommended that the legal professions in Scotland take full advantage of these opportunities and that the Faculty of Advocates and the Law Society of Scotland lift any of their own practice rules which contribute to the restrictions.
The issues were considered by Scottish Ministers during a debate in Parliament on 13 November 2007 entitled Competition, Regulation and Business Structures in the Scottish Legal Market. Click here for further information.
Following this debate the Cabinet Secretary for Justice issued The Scottish Government's reponse to the OFT on 18 December 2007.
The Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates are currently consulting their members and will report to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in spring 2008.