The Solicitors (Amendment) Act, 2002, the relevant provisions of which will be commenced by ministerial order shortly, strengthens the disciplinary regime for solicitors in a number of respects, of which the following are examples. It doubles the size of the tribunal to cater for an increased workload and the speedier processing of cases. The tribunal will be required to make a separate finding on each ground of alleged misconduct. Regard must be had to previous findings of misconduct by a solicitor when imposing a sanction in the current case. The maximum amount which a solicitor, in respect of whom there has been a finding of misconduct, may be ordered to pay to an aggrieved party or to the Law Society's Compensation Fund will increase from £5,000 to €15,000. There will be a right of appeal to the High Court on all aspects of the tribunal's work. The Act provides for remedies against solicitors who fail to co-operate with investigations. The circumstances in which the Law Society may refuse to issue a practising certificate or impose conditions on a certificate are spelt out in more detail than before. The circumstances in which the society can send an investigator to inspect documents at a solicitor's office are also extended.
I am confident the new provisions will make the disciplinary regime for solicitors more effective. Their operation will be kept under review. In that context, I remind the Deputy that the Progressive Democrats' Election Manifesto 2002 contains a commitment to establish an office of statutory ombudsman to protect the interests of clients of the legal profession. This commitment is not included in An Agreed Programme for Government between Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats. However, in the foreword to the agreed programme, the Taoiseach and the Tánaiste state that, in Government, it is open to either party to seek to persuade colleagues to pursue any individual policy included in their respective manifestos. Accordingly, it remains open as to whether proposals to Government for the establishment of a statutory ombudsman for the legal profession will be made. I look forward also to the outcome of a study currently being undertaken by the Competition Authority on legal professional services.
