Scottish Parliament looks south for advice on legal profession

England and Wales Law Society 'to play constructive part in review' The Law Society of England and Wales is set to give advice on a major review of how the legal profession and legal services in Scotland are regulated, it was announced.

The Scottish Parliament's Justice 1 committee will hold a wide-reaching inquiry into the regulatory regime in October this year.

The committee's remit will cover all branches of the legal profession in Scotland, including solicitors, barristers, judges, and qualified conveyancers.

But the review will also look at how other advisers such as non-legally qualified claims assessors and advice agencies are monitored.

The Scottish Parliament said the aim of the review will be to analyse the effectiveness of the current regulatory regime, in light of the fact that 'a clear regulatory framework for some of those involved in the provision of legal services in Scotland may be absent'.The review will focus in particular on the structure of the regulatory framework and how it operates in practice.

Organisations including the law societies of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland have been asked to submit their opinions on effective regulation by 15 August of this year.A Chancery Lane spokeswoman said it looked forward to playing a constructive part in the inquiry and was keen to submit written evidence.Martin McAllister, president of the Law Society of Scotland, said that the inquiry was a welcome development.

'The regulation of the solicitors profession, as part of the Scottish legal profession as a whole, must constantly adapt and change,' he explained.

'The inquiry will increase understanding and enhance communication.

I hope the outcome will benefit clients, their solicitors and the legal system as a whole.'A spokeswoman for the Scottish Law Society added that it will be interested to hear the views of the Law Society of England and Wales, as the organisations have similar functions and representation.

But she said she also hoped the review would make clear the distinction between the professions in the two jurisdictions and law societies, as the public sometimes thought they were one and the same.Paula Rohan