Call for views issued on Legal Services Regulation Bill

A Holyrood committee has issued a call for views as it begins its scrutiny of the bill reforming the regulation of legal services in Scotland – and has immediately highlighted its interest in the Scottish Government's decision not to follow the principal recommendation of the Roberton review.

MSPs on the Equalities, Human Rights & Civil Justice Committee are examining the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill at stage 1, and want to understand what impact the bill will have on legal regulators, service providers and consumers in Scotland.

They say they are particularly interested in the decision not to create an independent regulator of legal professionals, but instead to seek to develop the existing regulatory framework.

The Law Society of Scotland, among others, strongly believes that such an independent regulator, being appointed in some way through the state, would threaten the independence of the legal profession. It has similar objections to provisions in the bill that allow ministers to step in and exercise regulatory functions in certain circumstances.

However the committee wants to understand developing the existing framework carries with it a risk of a potential conflict of interests. It wants to hear about experiences in other jurisdictions, like England & Wales, where independent regulators have been introduced.

It is also interested in provisions that will divide legal regulators into two categories, depending on their size and level of interaction with the public. 

Other topics mentioned include the level of complexity or simplicity of the current regulatory landscape; the measures open to ministers in reviewing the performance of regulators; the main deficiencies in the current complaints system and the bill's proposals in this respect; the impact of the bill on alternative business structures; entity regulation; and title regulation for the term "lawyer".

Committee convener Kaukab Stewart MSP commented: "This new bill aims to modernise the legislation covering regulation, which is now over 35 years old. There have been several calls for change over the past decade. Through our scrutiny, we want to ensure that this new bill delivers on its aims.

"We would like to hear views from across the legal sector and public bodies as we seek to understand how the current regulatory landscape is viewed. We also want to get an understanding of what impact the changes in the bill would have on consumers of legal services."

Find the call for views here. The deadline for responses is 9 August 2023.