Lawyers are frequently (and rightly) heard to be shouting loudly about the independence of the judiciary.

Why is it, then, that the profession seems paranoid about allowing a completely independent and impartial tribunal to adjudicate complaints that are made by the public about lawyers?


The profession is complicit in encouraging the survival of a system where lawyers judge lawyers. Imagine how hypocritical and devious that appears to the world at large. You may be surprised to learn that lawyers are not particularly well regarded by the public. Removal of self-regulation by a closed shop could go a long way to promoting public confidence (not to mention ending the use of wigs and gowns, and the needless reliance on Latin words and phrases).


The Shipman inquiry appears to have sounded the death knell for self-regulation of the medical profession. Do we have to wait for external pressures to force the legal profession to modernise, or could we grasp the nettle and voluntarily take this bold step?



Chris Wolfle, legal services, Reading Borough Council