Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 20 March 2013
393. Deputy John McGuinness asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his views on correspondence sent to him by a person (details supplied) in County Kilkenny; if further regulation or legislation is required to deal with the issue raised; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13949/13]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, the complaints mechanisms within the Law Society, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and the Office of the Independent Adjudicator are the main avenues of redress for clients of solicitors who allege they have received inadequate professional services. As Minister, I have no power to intervene in any decision made by these statutorily independent bodies. The regulatory and complaints handling procedures are framed in the Solicitors Acts 1954-2008 and in regulations made under those Acts. The legislature has, in its wisdom, to date provided no direct ministerial role in the regulation of the legal profession.
Apart from the regulatory framework, the courts are, of course, a key avenue of redress for aggrieved clients of solicitors. The courts may indeed in many cases be the most appropriate arbitrator in alleged cases of serious negligence and misconduct, but in the instant case that is for the person the subject of the Deputy's question to decide.
As the Deputy will know, I believe improvements can be made to the regulatory regime for legal professionals in this country and that less self-regulation and more independent regulation will go a long way towards this. To this end, I have published the Legal Services Regulation Bill 2011, which I expect to move to Committee Stage later this year.
The Bill was drafted in line with the Programme for Government which undertakes to “…establish independent regulation of the legal professions to improve access and competition, make legal costs more transparent and ensure adequate procedures for addressing consumer complaints.”
The Bill has three main pillars of reform:
- a new, independent, Legal Services Regulatory Authority with responsibility for oversight of both solicitors and barristers;
- an independent complaints system to deal with complaints about professional misconduct. This will provide a first point-of-call for the public, independent of the professional bodies;
- an Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator that will assume the role of the existing Office of the Taxing-Master, with enhanced transparency in its functions.
While I, as Minister, am not empowered to intervene directly on anybody's behalf in the matters the Deputy has raised, it is hoped the above information will be of some assistance in understanding the current regulatory framework. In the meantime, I will continue to drive the Legal Services Regulation Bill towards enactment in order to make the improvements set out above.
