Legal Services Complaints Commissioner

In England and Wales, the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner is a statutory office that regulates solicitors, but not barristers. A Commissioner can be appointed by, and is answerable to, the Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice. [Access to Justice Act 1999, ss.51-52/ Sch.3]

History

When the Access to Justice Act 1999 came into force, government minister Keith Vaz stated to the House of Commons:Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (2005) "p."5]

quotation | ... we do not propose to appoint a Commissioner, ... unless and until a professional body is clearlyfailing to make substantial progress in improving its complaints record.

In September 2003, Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer, criticised the Law Society, the governing body of solicitors, saying:

As a result, the Lord Chancellor exercised his powers under the Act to appoint Zahida Manzoor as Commissioner in February 2004. The Commissioner's powers as to the Law Society are to:S.52(2)]

*Require them to report on their handling of complaints about solicitors;
*Investigate the handling of complaints;
*Make recommendations;
*Set targets;
*Require the Law Society to submit a plan for the handling of complaints.

If the Law Society fails to submit a plan or adequately handle complaints, the Commissioner can impose a penalty of up to £1 million, or 1% of the Society's annual income if that is less.

In 2005, the Law Society divided its functions among the Society, the Solicitors Regulation Authority and the Legal Complaints Service but by May 2006, the Society's efforts to remedy its own defficiencies were still giving concern to the Commissioner. [Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (2006) "p."6] As a result, a penalty of £220,000 was levied.Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (2007) "p."7] The Commissioner subsequently recognised that progress was being made and in April 2007, advised the Society that their Complaints Handling Plan adequately addressed the concerns. [ cite web | url=http://www.olscc.gov.uk/docs/laws-letter-0407.pdf | title=Text from letter dated 16 April 2007 from the Commissioner to the Law Society (2007-2008 Plan) | year=2007 | publisher=Legal Services Complaints Commissioner | accessdate=2008-03-07 ] However, in April 2008, the Commissioner reported that "Results show that despite some improvements in all target areas set, there are stillfailures ... to consistently apply their policies, processes and customer standards." [Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (2008) "p."13] On 3 June 2008, the Comissioner fined the Law Society £275,000 over the inadequacy of its complaints handling plan for the forthcoming year. [ cite web | title=Law Society fined as a result of complaints plan | url=http://www.olscc.gov.uk/docs/penalty08-09pressnotice.pdf | publisher=Office of theLegal Services Complaints Commissioner | date=2008-06-03 | accessdate=2008-08-09 ]

Reform

When the Legal Services Act 2007 fully comes into force, the Commissioner will be abolished and replaced with an Office for Legal Complaints which will supervise the complaints handling of solicitors, barristers and other legal professionals. [Legal Services Act 2007, ss.114-159/ Sch.15]

References

Bibliography

* cite web | work=Law in Order: your right to expect better | title=Annual Report 2004-2005 | author=Legal Services Complaints Commissioner | url=http://www.olscc.gov.uk/docs/OLSCCannualreport2004-2005.pdf | accessdate=2008-03-07 | year=2005 | quote="HC 166" | publisher=London: The Stationery Office
* cite web | work=Actions not words: consumers matter | title=Annual Report 2005-2006 | author=— | url=http://www.olscc.gov.uk/docs/olscc-annrep-1.pdf | accessdate=2008-03-07 | year=2006 | quote="HC 1225" | publisher=London: The Stationery Office
* cite web | work=Cycle of change | title=Annual Report 2006-2007 | author=— | url=http://www.olscc.gov.uk/docs/annual-report-06-07-full.pdf | accessdate=2008-03-07 | year=2007 | quote="HC 676" | publisher=London: The Stationery Office
* cite web | work=A Work in Progress | title=Annual Report 2007-2008 | author=— | url=http://www.olscc.gov.uk/publications/annual-interim-reports.htm#work | accessdate=2008-08-09 | year=2008 | quote="HC 840" | publisher=London: The Stationery Office

External links

* cite web | title=Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner | year=2007 | accessdate=2008-03-07 | url=http://www.olscc.gov.uk/index.htm