Murdo Fraser

Mr Fraser, a former solicitor himself, raised the matter at Holyrood during a justice and veterans portfolio question to Ash Regan, minister for community safety, yesterday.

This followed criticism of the proposals from the Lord President, Lord Carloway, who said the plans would strip the Court of Session of its regulatory powers.

The comments came after government ministers consulted on proposals to change the way legal services are regulated and complaints against legal service providers are handled.

Mr Fraser said: “Numerous people in the Judiciary of Scotland have raised concerns about these proposals, saying they amount to ‘political interference’ with the legal system. This saw the extraordinary intervention of Scotland’s most senior judge, Lord Carloway.

“We have also heard from Roddy Dunlop QC, Dean of the Faculty of Advocates, who has called the plans ‘an assault on the rule of law that must be resisted, root and branch, with tooth and claw’ and I agree with him.

“Today, at Holyrood, I asked the minister for community safety how the SNP ended up in a situation where the judiciary criticise the potential political interference in the legal system but didn’t get a satisfactory answer from her.

“This is another example of unwarranted interference from the SNP – this time on our historical legal system which has served Scotland well for hundreds of years. The notable objections from the judiciary show just how out of touch the SNP are.”