Society signs Goa Declaration on independent profession

The Law Society of Scotland has signed up to an international declaration on protecting the independence of the judiciary and the legal profession. 

The Commonwealth Law Conference 2023 Goa Declaration, on preserving and strengthening the independence of the judiciary and on securing the independence of the legal profession, was unanimously adopted by the Commonwealth Lawyers Association at this year's conference.

Signed by bar association and law society leaders from 40 Commonwealth countries, it sets out that the independence and impartiality of the judiciary must be upheld and protected by governments. It also states that lawyers must be "free to perform all their professional duties without threats, intimidation, hindrance, harassment or improper interference or influence".

The Society's move comes in the wake of the Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill coming before the Scottish Parliament. The Society is deeply concerned that the bill would confer powers on Scottish Government ministers in certain circumstances to intervene directly in the authorisation and regulation of legal businesses, in the Society's view seriously risking the independence of the legal profession.

A section of the declaration specifies that states must "refrain from taking any action, including adopting legislation, that may interfere with the independence of lawyers and their professional associations".

Murray Etherington, President of the Law Society of Scotland, commented: "The declaration emphasises just how important an independent judiciary is to the rule of law and the essential role of the legal profession in a democracy."

He added: "As stated in the new declaration, one of the most important roles of the legal sector is to challenge Government on behalf of clients and hold it to account. The proposed new power allowing Scottish ministers to intervene directly in regulation undermines the fundamental principle of having a legal profession which is independent from the state. Not only that, it would also diminish our international standing.

"It’s striking that even in a mature democracy like ours, there is a need to reassert this. We will do everything in our power to make sure that the independence of the profession is not jeopardised by the bill’s proposals."

The Society supports the bill to the extent that it would modernise the regulation of the profession to reflect changes since the present legislation which dates from 1980, though it believes the bill could be more ambitious in this respect, especially in terms of how complaints are handled.