THE body that represents Scotland’s lawyers is taking legal action over a Court of Session ruling that it claims effectively removed its power to pursue disciplinary action against errant solicitors.
The Law Society of Scotland announced that it has commenced legal action to challenge earlier steps taken by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC).
The society said it is seeking clarity on how certain types of legal complaints should be handled.
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It comes after an August Court of Session ruling that single issues within a legal complaint must be categorised as either service or conduct.
The SLCC’s practice of classifying an issue as both, a so called "hybrid" issue, was ruled unlawful.
It means new complaints made following the judgment will now be categorised as either service or conduct issues by the SLCC but the law society has raised concerns over the decision of the SLCC to recategorise around 200 complaints already in the system.
The society has also questioned the legal power of the SLCC to recategorise complaints amid concerns that revisiting decisions already taken risks calling into question historical cases where disciplinary action has been taken.
It is claimed the SLCC’s decisions remove the society’s power to investigate and, if required, pursue disciplinary action against individual solicitors in these cases.
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The society has lodged appeals to the Court of Session, questioning the SLCC’s decisions over a number of cases as well as the principle of recategorisation itself.
Eilidh Wiseman, President of the Law Society of Scotland, said: “The most recent issues arose because the approach taken by the SLCC towards the handling of hybrid issues was ruled to be unlawful.
"This is why it is so important for the SLCC’s response to be legally sound and preserve the integrity of the complaints system."
A spokesman for the SLCC said: "We believe that the law society’s decision to take legal action creates uncertainty and delay for complainers and lawyers currently involved in our process.
"This is at a double cost to Scotland’s solicitors as both organisations, and therefore their respective legal costs, will ultimately be funded by the society’s members.
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"We also took detailed legal advice on the implications of the court ruling.
"On the basis of our legal advice we took swift and positive action to minimise the consequences on those who had made complaints and those subject to a complaint."
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