Immigration lawyers unhappy over new accreditation process
Immigration solicitors are concerned that they have been ‘singled out’ from other legal aid lawyers through the introduction of a new reaccreditation process.
The compulsory immigration and asylum accreditation scheme, administered by the Law Society, was launched in 2004, with reaccreditation required after three years.
No reaccreditation scheme was put in place until January this year, when solicitors received letters informing them that they would need to pass an exam by the end of July if they wanted to conduct work under the new civil contract that runs from October 2010.
The deadline for passing the reaccreditation process has since been extended to 31 March 2011. However, Mark Phillips, chairman of the Law Society’s immigration committee, said: ‘Immigration lawyers feel battered and bullied… They feel they are being singled out and treated differently from other practitioners in the way they are accredited.’
The Law Society said the two-hour exam was ‘the most sensible solution’.
Comments
Immigration solicitors
Immigration law is one of the specialist subjects that, so far as I am aware, is not part and parcel of the examinations that a solicitor must pass in order to qualify for their final training to become a solicitor. Immigration law is not an easy subject and case law is being churned out at a pace when it demnds that lawyers should specialise in this subject alone. Many years ago I was a practitioner in a family type of firm of solicitors, jack of all trades but master of none. I took a very substantial decrease in pay to work as an assistant to a senior partner who had a subperb knowledge of civil litigation and was an excellent tutor.
Several years ago and at a time when the Immigration Department was under attack for its lack of progress in processing asylum claims, I decided to do some of my own research. I downloaded Judgments of interest that filled 3 lever arch folders.
One common denominator is the large number of cases that went to appeal due to the incompetancy of solicitors, barristers and immigration officials. I find it unsatisfactory that those incompetant individuals should be permitted to continue practising immigration case law. They have been a considerably drain on taxpayers monies. The proposed exmination of solicitor candidates it is to welcomed. I hope this will also extent to Counsel but I doubt if this is likely to happen.