Scottish Law Society To Oppose Liberalisation Moves

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

31 May 2004

Writing in the UK's Law Society Gazette last week, chief executive of the Law Society of Scotland, Douglas Mill expressed reservations with regard to the extension of the liberalisation of legal services provision currently taking place in England and Wales to Scotland.

Although the changes proposed by Sir David Clementi as part of his ongoing review of the legal services sector are only intended to apply in England and Wales, the recent move by Scottish Justice Minister, Cathy Jamieson to commission an executive study on access to legal services suggests that the reform process may have repercussions for the Scottish legal community as well.

Arguing that there are fundamental differences between the two systems, and that the current structure of Scotland's market is in the best interests of all concerned, Mr Mill acknowledged that it would be impossible to "seal hermetically any Clementi outcomes at Hadrian's Wall," but explained that:

"While Sir David has said that in England and Wales the status quo is not an option, I am uncertain whether that needs to be the case in Scotland."

Recommended