Judges condemn Scottish government power grab with bill to regulate lawyers

In its response to a call for views on the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill, the College of Justice said that the government proposes to:

• take into its own hands powers to control lawyers;
• remove aspects of the Court of Session’s oversight of the legal profession; and
• impose itself as a co-regulator along with the Lord President.

These proposals are “a threat to the independence of the legal profession and the judiciary”, the response states.

It adds: “It is of critical constitutional importance that there is a legal profession which is willing and able to stand up for the citizen against the government of the day. The judiciary is fundamentally opposed to this attempt to bring the legal profession under political control. If the bill is passed in its current form, Scotland will be viewed internationally as a country whose legal system is open to political abuse.

“We have no difficulty with the Scottish government’s decision to create a framework of Category 1 and Category 2 regulators. The bill ought to be amended so that it maintains, rather than threatens, the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession. If that is done, the bill will form an acceptable foundation for updating the regulation of legal services in Scotland and provide for the protection of consumers and other users of legal services. This response represents the unanimous view of all of the senior judiciary.”

President of the Law Society of Scotland Sheila Webster said: “Scotland’s most senior judges are unanimous in their view that proposals to allow Scottish Ministers to intervene directly in the regulation of the legal profession, threaten the independence of both the profession and Scotland’s judiciary.

“They have expressed deep concern, that we share, about the impact of the bill not just at home but around the globe, stating in their response that if the bill is passed in its current form, Scotland would be viewed internationally as a country whose legal system is open to abuse.

“There is much in the bill which would bring improvement, but these proposals are wrong and dangerous, and must be dropped.”