sccrcunjustdecisions.myfastforum.org

admin · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 40

Judging by this story The Law Society are under great stress and strain.
Is this because of the amount of lies they spout forth?
Is it because of the amount of complaints they receive against their members.
Is it because of the amount of cover-ups he was asked to participate in.
Who knows?
Judge for yourself.
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Tue 28 Aug 2007
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Law Society president quits job over pressures
THE President of the Law Society of Scotland is to step down from the post with immediate effect, it emerged last night.

John MacKinnon is to leave office because he feels he cannot cope with the demands of the high-profile post and his job as a partner with law firm Brown & McRae, based in Fraserburgh.

The President of the Law Society is a figurehead who represents its 10,000 members in Scotland. Mr MacKinnon took up the post in May, at a time of great change in the profession. Big issues include the creation of the independent Scottish Legal Complaints Commission and so-called Tesco law - the call to allow basic legal services to be provided from outside the profession to widen consumer choice.

The society's vice-president, Richard Henderson, becomes president and the society will appoint a replacement for him as soon as possible.

Related topic

Legal Issues
http://business.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=859
This article: http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1363582007

Last updated: 27-Aug-07 00:51 BST

Comments Add your comment1. Wee Lou, Coventry / 1:29am 28 Aug 2007 Yes its time the SLCC was set up
Our Law Society have for years been self Governed and had no one to answer to.
The result of this is evident in the many complaints now surfacing.
One case springs to mind of the Law Society in a Criminal case saying: The Lawyer not interviewing 16 Witnesses before the Trial was not Professional Misconduct but a "Service Issue"
Its time they defined the difference between these two complaints.

Report as unsuitable 2. Wee Lou, Coventry / 1:41am 28 Aug 2007 I thought it would be best to highlight my concerns above by adding this to show what is being said by our Law Society

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=429369616&size=l

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=429369608&size=l
Would Douglas Mills perhaps explain my concerns that they Cover Up for their Lawyers and do not investigate competent complaints by saying they are service issues when clearly they are Misconduct Issues

Report as unsuitable 3. Peter Cherbi, Edinburgh / 3:02am 28 Aug 2007 # 2. Wee Lou,

if Douglas Mill explains your concerns over a cover up, that will be a first.This couldn't even be achieved in front of the Justice 2 Committee on the LPLA Act hearings last year.

No big surprise that Mr MacKinnon is stepping down.

Who wants to be a figurehead anyway, the Chief Executive controls policy at the Law Society, for the members interests against those of the client, and if you take the complaints statistics over the past 10 years of the present Chief Exec Douglas Mill's term as being an indication of how well the Law Society's strange 'dual role' has been fulfilled - I'd say it hasn't done a very good job of either.

Scotland got a change for the better in the May elections - how about the legal profession doing the same ?

Report as unsuitable 4. 2Right, On Location / 1:07pm 28 Aug 2007 Wee Lou and Peter Cherbi.
Both correct, Complaints against Lawyers etc are not being investigated Independently.
The SLCC should sort this out.
However there seems concern over the Lay People that will get these Jobs, Will they be Professional Lay People? this will remain to be seen.
Here is a case where the Ombudsman said there was a Red Herring and yet the Law Society still refused to fully investigate.

http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=429364630&size=l

Report as unsuitable 5. Peter Cherbi, Edinburgh / 4:06pm 28 Aug 2007 #4. 2Right

As I understand it, the Law Society have been 'encouraging' people who are on Complaints Committees of professional self regulators similar to the Law Society to put in applications for the Lay person posts at the SLCC.

Also, the solicitors who were to join as lawyer members of the SLCC were at first not to be asked to declare their "complaints history" but that seems to have changed after someone wrote in to the Justice Secretary drawing attention to that particular issue.

Bear in mind appointments to the SLCC are to be done & overseen by the Lord President, who himself is of course ultimately, a member of the Law Society of Scotland.

In the spirit of 'openness and a break from the past', surely the SNP should be getting to grips with the problems of injustice in the Scottish legal system by now, in favour of the public this time, rather than the professions.

Report as unsuitable 6. open, west coast / 5:50pm 28 Aug 2007 Read the following links for a true assessment of what is really going on in Scotland

http://www.theherald.co.uk/business/news/display.var.1644...

http://petercherbi.blogspot.com/2007/08/law-society-chief...

LJPR LEGAL JUDICIAL POLITICAL REFORMERS
http://www.ljpr.info
CIVIL TRIAL BY JURY ANYTHING ELSE IS TYRANNY

admin · Site Admin Joined: 12 May 2007 Posts: 40

Unionist in religious attack on SNP
LOUISE GRAY SCOTTISH POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT
ULSTER Unionists have accused Alex Salmond of undermining the traditions of the Orange Order by forming an "unholy alliance" with other devolved administrations which threatens UK rule.
David Burnside, an Ulster Unionist member of the Northern Irish Assembly, said Mr Salmond's attempts to work with Wales and Northern Ireland to wrest more powers from Westminster would antagonise England.

He said the move would not only threaten the Union, but the Protestant traditions on which it was formed. However, churches and politicians have rejected any association of faith and politics.
Mr Burnside was speaking at a gathering of 4,000 Orangemen in Hamilton, Lanarkshire, this weekend, to commemorate the Battle of the Boyne.
In a passionate speech, he warned the "brethren" that the principles of loyalty to the Crown, the Union and the Protestant faith are under threat.
"My message to Orange brethren in Scotland, whose prime allegiance is to the maintenance of the Union, the British Crown and the Protestant reformed faith is a warning of the dangers of the regional home-rule parliaments linking together to negotiate special status, privileges and concessions within the Union," he said.
Mr Burnside attacked Ian Paisley, first minister of Northern Ireland, for negotiating with the "Machiavellian" Mr Salmond and risking the Union.
"The unholy alliance will antagonise English MPs at Westminster and end up in conflict and pressure from England to end the Union," he added.
Ultimately, he feared the current direction could threaten the foundations of the Orange Order.
"Loyalty to the Crown, the Union and to the Protestant faith is our fundamental belief and allegiance and true unionists should beware of the route we are being taken down by the First Ministers of Scotland and Northern Ireland," he added.
However, Morag Mylne, the convener of the Kirk's church and society council, said:
"The Christian faith does not depend on any particular political or constitutional arrangements. Christianity in Scotland is rooted in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, not in the Act of Union."
Alasdair Allan, the SNP MSP for the Western Isles, a member of the Church of Scotland, said it was a positive move that independence was being discussed peacefully by people of all faiths.
"Faith is not determined by the type of government that exists in a country. It is a personal matter and in no way threatened by the fact Alex Salmond has gone on a visit to Belfast.
The idea that one's faith is determined by one's government is straight out of the 17th century," he said.

Scott Law · Joined: 06 Nov 2007 Posts: 36

It would seem that even with the setting up of SLCC the law society of scotland will have the last say so on what complaints progress and what are flung in the bin as they do just now.

Every lawyer in scotland must have the same insurance group creating a master policy of which i am sure if anyone else tried this they would be charged with price fixing.

SLCC must be allowed to act independently and not have to report to anyone when making their decisions.
This whole set-up is a total whitewash.

Published Date: 11 January 2008
Source: The Scotsman
Location: Scotland
Related Topics: Legal Issues
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Sign InRegisterLegal watchdog roles for ex-police chiefs

« Previous « PreviousNext » Next »
View GalleryBy JOE QUINN
TWO former senior police officers have been appointed to an independent body for legal complaints, it was announced yesterday.

Ian Gordon, former deputy chief constable of Tayside Police, and Douglas Watson, an ex-head of CID with the Lothian and Borders force who worked on the Jodi Jones case, will be among the four non-lawyer members of the newly-created Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

Other non-lawyer members are former nursing director Linda Pollock and George Irvine, former director of social work at North Ayrshire council.

The new body will be chaired by Jane Irvine, who is currently the Scottish Legal Services' ombudsman. It will begin work in October.

Kenny MacAskill, the justice secretary, said: "I am confident that independent scrutiny will safeguard the rights of both the profession and users of legal services throughout Scotland. "

The Law Society of Scotland said the new body would act as a "gateway" for all complaints about solicitors, adding that it would continue to receive complaints, via the commission, about solicitors' conduct.

The full article contains 177 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.Last Updated: 10 January 2008 9:28 PM
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1 Peter Cherbi,Edinburgh 11/01/2008 01:02:55
A rather odd choice for Chairman given the SLCC was supposed to be a break from the past, where the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman hasn't really done much for client complaints against how poorly the Law Society has regulated the legal profession over the years ...

Too much interference in the appointments stage from the legal profession itself sadly ... but we will just have to wait & see how good or bad the SLCC will be ...

One thing is for sure, it won't be addressing the problems the Law Society and the SLSO have caused clients of the past ... still waiting to be addressed.Report Unsuitable2 2Right,On Location 11/01/2008 01:14:49
Exactly what are they supposed to be independent of ?
Going by this bunch recently selected they are not independent of Judiciary and they can be seen as people who will continue to allow the cover ups to continue with vested interests.

What a sad day for Mr MacAskill to try to claim these people as independent is an insult

I note he has also said SCCRC are independent yet 95% of them are from the legal profession and Judiciary.

Mr MacAskill clearly is not fit to appoint anyone and he should resignReport Unsuitable3 Peter Cherbi,Edinburgh 11/01/2008 01:49:15
#2 2Right,

I'm surprised a bit about the way Kenny MacAskill has allowed the SLCC appointments & formation process to run, considering the fact that probably the best man in the Scottish Government today, John Swinney, has done so much on the issue of the problems with 'crooked lawyers' which brought about the formation of the SLCC from the passing of the LPLA (Scotland) Act 2007 in the first place.

If you watch this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBKwGzeKtEE
you will see what a highly skilled and honourable politician Mr Swinney is in how he challenged the head of the Law Society himself on an issue which has caused so much controversy over the years - the Law Society interfering in claims & complaints against solicitors.

Given what came out of the J2 hearings, featured in that clip, I have to wonder why the current Legal Services Ombudsman, who has known about these things for many years and did nothing, managed to secure the position of Chairman ... Is that consistent with accountable transparent Government I wonder ?Report Unsuitable4 2Right,On Location 11/01/2008 02:12:27
# Peter 3

Not surprised considering some of the complaints against this Law society, They need to protect their members.
Watched the video above and it is clear Mr Swinney could have done more.
It is also clear the Memorandum created room for serious malpractice complaints against Douglas Mills but nothing was done and he is still president of the Law Society and running the show despite misconduct within.
It is clear from the appointments the cover-ups will continue.
Wonder how much The Law Society advertised these vacancies before appointing this bunch?
The SNP are looking like they are to act the same as past Governments and not allow Accountability, Openness and Honesty to be part of their Agenda'sReport Unsuitable5 open,west coast 11/01/2008 05:39:18
Our group have fought long and hard for change to Scotlands corrupt legal system.To put two senior police officers on the NEW independent body shows a complete failure to grasp the fact that the lay appointments should have had NO connection with any part of that legal system.

Our group have provided proof to inquiries that show Scottish police have been turning a blind eye to lawyer fraud in the past yet police officers are now being asked to act as safeguarders for the general public?This is as outrageous as the MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING between the police and law society in relation to whether they can investigate lawyer criminality reported by the public .Or in fact require the sanctioning of the godfathers running the law society to pursue crimes associated with the massive swindling of our members and indeed many thousands of victims of Scotlands corrupt civil process .

MacAskill and Aitken's appointments have been as suspect as the failures to protect the public from the RAMPANT criminality of a legal system that has been getting away with murder for far to long,destroying the lives of innocent victims of a tyranny that makes all other crimes in Scotland pale by comparison.

UTTERLY OUTRAGEOUS WHICH WE WILL ENSURE THEY WILL NOT GET AWAY WITH.

LJPR LEGAL JUDICIAL POLITICAL REFORMERS

Masonic Chief Constables OUT Accountability IN

Report Unsuitable6 donald,glasgow 11/01/2008 06:58:30
Independent polis polices polis.Report Unsuitable7 an interested party,11/01/2008 09:37:00
or the blind leading the blindReport Unsuitable8 abracadabra,Bathgate 11/01/2008 11:50:59
I share the concerns of the contributors as I personally know a number of the committee.
Each and every one of the committee are dedicated establishment figures who will produce reports of undoubted excellence but will say nothingReport Unsuitable9 Peter Cherbi,Edinburgh 11/01/2008 12:41:28
I think the bigger problem here is that the hard work which was put in by everyone, including the likes of consumer organisations, campaigners, victims and even some members of the legal profession to pass the reforming LPLA (Scotland) Act 2007 is not being translated in to the spirit of the legislation, passed by the former Labour Scottish Executive.

Given all that has happened over the years, including the excellent input by the Scotsman into the 'regulation of the legal profession' debate which may even have started the basis of the current legislation now being spun out for the profession's interest, I would hope that other parties within the Parliament may shine a light on these events, and strongly monitor the 'progress' if any, of the new Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.

If these events prove anything, it is that users of legal services - the public, need to be represented by their own organisation, as one which is consigned to the 'appointed by the legal profession & government' procedures, does not really live up to the public interest.

The Scottish Government Press Release, showing also the level of lawyer involvement on the new 'independent' commission is available here :

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Releases/2008/01/10100426Report Unsuitable10 Guga II,Rockall 11/01/2008 12:46:44
Kenny MacAskill is not fit for purpose, and it is time wee Eck got rid of him.

The appointment of a couple of ex-filth to these positions is a joke; as is having establishment figures to police the establishment.Report Unsuitable11 2Right,On Location 13/01/2008 03:41:43
Can anyone tell us why after passing Law Degree's at our universities all lawyers must Join The Law Society and must use their Insurance "The Master Policy" ?
The master policy should be investigated for price fixing.
If one company owned all supermarkets, there would be a public outcry.
The same should apply to insurance companies and the Law Society.
Lawyers should be allowed to pick their own Insurance this is what competition and fairness is all about.
SNP should look into this with the utmost urgency.
One insurance company should not be allowed to benefit alone from Lawyers.

After passing all exams Lawyers should be free to practice without having to join the Law Society in this supposed freedom of choice society.

This would be a great starting point for SLCC to look into, Price fixing by law Society for lawyers insurance