NI Assembly: Legal Complaints and Regulation Bill

The Legal Complaints and Regulation Bill was introduced into the Northern Ireland Assembly by the Finance and Personnel Minister Arlene Foster MLA in June 2015. The Bill makes provision for the establishment of the office of the Legal Services Oversight Commissioner for Northern Ireland and also changes the way in which complaints against members of the legal profession will be handled. The full text of the Bill can be found here along with a timeline of its progression through the Assembly.

The provisions in the Bill emanate from the Department’s consideration of a report issued by the Legal Services Review Group, chaired by Professor Sir George Bain, that produced recommendations relating to the future regulation of legal services in November 2006. The Department most recently consulted on the recommendations in November 2013. Read the Bar’s response.

There are a number of key provisions contained in the Bill:

• The appointment of a lay person as Legal Services Oversight Commissioner to oversee the complaints handing processes employed by the legal profession;
• The cost of the Legal Services Oversight Commissioner should be met by a levy on the professional bodies;
• The professional bodies will maintain responsibility for complaints handling. However, the Bill will see the creation of a Bar Complaints Committee administered by the Benchers of the Inn of Court to deal with service complaints against barristers when internal resolution is not possible;
• The Bar Complaints Committee can direct that compensation be paid in response to a complaint up to a maximum of £5,000;

The Bar Council submitted its written evidence on the Bill to the Finance and Personnel Committee in September 2015. The Bar Council’s submission highlights that regulation is of fundamental importance to ensure that the justice system works in the public interest and to retain public confidence in the professionals with responsibility for delivering legal services. It emphasises the need to ensure that regulation is transparent, effective, proportionate but also cost effective for Northern Ireland.

Chairman of the Bar Council, Gerald McAlinden QC, Chief Executive David Mulholland and Chairman of the Professional Conduct Committee, Gary Potter, appeared before a formal Committee session in October 2015 to give evidence on the Bar’s views on the Bill. View a recording of the briefing with the relevant section beginning at 43 minutes.

The Committee produced its final report in December 2015 before the Bill completed its Consideration Stage and Further Consideration Stage in January 2016. This saw a number of amendments made to the Bill. The main ones are:

• The Law Society must require every solicitor to provide information about the number of relevant complaints made in order to ensure an accurate picture of the level of legal complaints in NI;
• A majority of MLAs voted in favour of provision for an independent review after three years with the publication of a report on the implementation of the Act; and
• MLAs supported an amendment to clause 19(2)(a) on the determination of a complaint by the Bar Complaints Committee that the respondent make an apology to the complainant to insert “which shall not, of itself, amount to an admission of negligence for the purpose of any civil proceedings”.

The amended Bill completed its Final Stage in February 2016 and has subsequently received Royal Assent.