Scottish Government forced to climb down on ministerial power grab of legal profession

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has today said that the SNP Government must not hurry through important legislation to reform legal services after it was forced into removing unchecked ministerial powers from the Legal Services Bill.

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Bill proposed giving Scottish ministers sweeping new powers to intervene in the ways lawyers work.

These powers were met with unanimous condemnation across the legal profession. The Senators of the College of Justice, which represents judges in the Court of Session and the High Court, previously told MSPs that if these powers were not removed, “Scotland will be viewed internationally as a country whose legal system is open to political abuse”.

The Scottish Government has now been forced to back down and is removing these powers from the Bill.

Mr McArthur said:

“Figures from across the legal profession will be relieved to see the Scottish Government finally listening to their expertise and ditching these ill-informed proposals.  

“The government rushed to introduce this legislation and never properly engaged with stakeholders. In doing so, they risked giving ministers unchecked powers over the legal profession, allowing for dangerous government overreach.

“Liberal Democrats strongly support modernising the legal profession, but this climb-down should remind ministers that it is something that needs to be handled with care.

“It is crucial that parliament approves these amendments so that we can concentrate on making the necessary reforms and enhancing the way in which legal services are delivered in Scotland.”