Northern Ireland: report raises concerns of paramilitary involvement in legal practices


Fears of 'IRA Law', rather than 'Tesco Law', contributed to a Clementi-style review in Northern Ireland last week rejecting the sweeping reforms set for lawyers in England and Wales.



Recommending much smaller changes to the system of regulation, the government-commissioned review of legal services in Northern Ireland decided against non-lawyer ownership of law firms, in part because of past instances of paramilitary involvement in legal practices.



'The risks of further involvement are likely to be even greater should the rules prohibiting external ownership be relaxed,' it said.



The review, headed by Professor Sir George Bain, said that while it accepted the principles and objectives for regulation set out by Sir David Clementi, some of his recommendations were inappropriate for the province, given its different size, nature and legal culture. There are some 2,200 solicitors working in 500 law firms in Northern Ireland, plus around 560 barristers.



Central to the review's proposals is the creation of a legal services oversight commissioner (LSOC) to watch over the regulation of solicitors and barristers, and particularly their complaints-handling, with greater lay involvement in both. The professional bodies would not need to split their representative and regulatory functions, except in relation to complaints.



However, unlike the proposed legal services board on this side of the Irish Sea, the LSOC would have no regulatory power of its own. 'We found that the legal professions have discharged their regulatory functions in a reasonable manner,' the review said. 'The regulatory failure in England and Wales has not occurred in Northern Ireland.'



It recommended maintaining the ban on legal and multi-disciplinary partnerships (LDPs/MDPs), arguing that they would work anti-competitively in Northern Ireland. 'Instead of solicitors' firms in 74 locations, they would be replaced by fewer LDPs in fewer locations. Hence both geographical convenience and consumer choice would be reduced.' On MDPs, it suggested a 'wait-and-see' approach: 'If they are going to work anywhere in these islands, it will probably be in England and Wales.'



A spokesman for the Law Society of Northern Ireland welcomed the recognition that the province is different from other jurisdictions. 'Although [the committee has] found that Northern Ireland has a strong and robust legal profession... they say it is not perfect. This is an assessment upon which we agree.'



The government will respond to the review in the new year.



Neil Rose