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Rights of Audience Review
17/03/2010
An independent review of the system of rights of audience in the Supreme Courts today published its final report.
The review was commissioned by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill last September, following concerns expressed by the Lord Justice Clerk Lord Gill in an Appeal Court ruling, and a call for a review by the Law Society of Scotland.
The main recommendations of the review, which is chaired by Senior Scottish Investment Banker Ben Thomson, are:
- The separate identities, systems and business models of advocates and solicitor advocates should be retained
- A universal standard examination for admission as a pleader in the Supreme Courts should be established and all pleaders should be reviewed on a regular cycle
- There should be one code of conduct for all pleaders
- The complaints process should be enhanced and provide for one process for advocates and solicitor advocates
Ben Thomson said:
"It is not surprising that extending rights of audience in the Supreme Courts to solicitors 20 years ago raised difficult questions of practice, and the Woodside ruling identified some substantial specific concerns. However, the review found that many of the general concerns on standards of pleading in the Supreme Courts seemed to be more based on perceptions than any analytical data.
"Our review has sought to maintain the healthy competition of separate professions, whilst creating a common qualification and evaluation process, codes of conduct and complaints procedure. This should reduce confusion for clients and help direct energy towards achieving high standards for all rather than in seeking to identify which system is best."
Cabinet Secretary for Justice, Kenny MacAskill welcomed the publication of the report and said:
"This Government's priority is to enhance the quality and reputation of Scotland's judicial and legal system, and the recommendations in this report will help us to achieve that. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Ben Thomson for his considered and thoughtful report and I look forward to consulting with the Lord President, the Faculty and the Law Society on taking this work to the next stage."