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Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
27/07/2007
Edinburgh has been chosen as the base for the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) which is due to be up and running in late 2008.
The SLCC, which will be independent of the legal profession, will have up to 60 staff and a remit to ensure that any complaints against the profession are resolved quickly and effectively.
Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill said:
"The decision of where to site the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission was finely balanced. However, after detailed consideration, a number of factors tipped the balance in favour of siting the Commission in Edinburgh.
"Scotland's capital city is widely recognised as Scotland's legal centre. This decision therefore places independent complaints handling at the heart of the civil and criminal justice system and close to the hub of the legal profession.
"Taken together with the Government's desire that the SLCC should share accommodation with other scrutiny bodies in the future, it is clear that Edinburgh is the preferred and right location for this body."
The SLCC was established by the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007. The Act gained Royal Assent on 19 January 2007 and it is anticipated that the SLCC will become operational in late 2008. Having selected Edinburgh as the location for the SLCC, the next step will be to identify suitable premises that meet the SLCC's needs in terms of space requirements and organisational efficiency. In conducting this search, other factors will also be considered such as shared services potential with other organisations and future co-location opportunities on a campus basis.
Key points of the new complaints handling system:
- New independent complaints handling body to be set up - the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission
- The Commission will be headed up by a board composed of a non-lawyer chair plus four non-lawyer members and four lawyer members who are appointed by Scottish Ministers after consultation with the Lord President of the Court of Session
- Scottish Ministers will have no locus in relation to the Commission's decisions on complaints
- Funding will be from the legal profession through two levies: a general levy and a levy on practitioners generating complaints. The Commission will discuss its draft budget with the professional bodies each January. Vexatious or frivolous complaints will be sifted out and will not be the subject of a levy
- Making a complaint will carry no cost to the complainer
- The Commission will act as a gateway to receive and sift complaints which could not be resolved at source
- The Commission will deal with inadequate professional service complaints and low value negligence cases (awards below 20,000 pounds) but the professional bodies and their discipline tribunals will continue to deal with professional discipline and complaints about the conduct of practitioners
- The Commission will be able to review the way in which the professional bodies handle conduct complaints and will be able to enforce its recommendations
- There will be a limited right to appeal the decisions of the Commission - by application to the Court of Session
- The Commission will publish an annual report which Scottish Ministers will lay before the Scottish Parliament
- The office of the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman will be abolished and the Commission will take over the review functions