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32-731: The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission ( SLCC) is a non-departmental public body responsible dealing with unresolved complaints against legal practitioners operating in Scotland . It was established under the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 and came into operation on 1 October 2008, replacing the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman . The Commission investigates and resolves complaints about inadequate professional service provided by solicitors , advocates , and commercial attorneys, but only investigates how

64-676: A court of appeal for cases from the Outer House and from appeals in civil cases from the Court of the Lord Lyon , Scottish Land Court , and the Lands Tribunal for Scotland . It will hear appeals on questions of law from the Sheriff Appeal Court . It will also sit as a court of first instance in rare instances. The Inner House is always a panel of at least three senators and does not sit with

96-745: A court of first instance . The chief justice is the Lord President , with their deputy being the Lord Justice Clerk , and judges of the Inner House are styled Senators of the College of Justice or Lords of Council and Session . Criminal appeals in Scotland are handled by the High Court of Justiciary sitting as the Court of Appeal . The Inner House is the part of the Court of Session which acts as

128-479: A complaint as either service-related or conduct-related. The Inner House deemed it ultra vires for the Commission to make a determination that a complaint was a hybrid of conduct and service. The Law Society of Scotland challenged the Commission's power to decide if a complaint previously classified as hybrid was either a service-related or conduct-related complaint. The Inner House found, unanimously, in favour of

160-535: A greater number of senators than the initial panel. Further appeals are also possible to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . Almost all hearings in the Inner House are before three judges, although in important cases in which there is a conflict of authority a court of five judges or, exceptionally, seven, may be convened. The Inner House is sub-divided into two divisions of equal authority and jurisdiction -

192-427: A jury. The division of the Court into two houses was first enacted by the Court of Session Act 1810 and most recently confirmed by the Court of Session Act 1988 . The Inner House will sit as a court of first instance in respect of special cases, where the facts are not disputed but where a significant legal difficulty has arisen. Such a case may be appealed to another panel of the Inner House, but constituted with

224-561: A significant point of law , or are particularly complex: ... the rationale for the establishment of the Sheriff Appeal Court, that it will deal with virtually all civil appeals from the sheriff court because these do not merit the attention of Inner House judges except in very exceptional cases. This will free up Inner House judges to deal with more complex matters. Section 48 of the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 establishes

256-533: A small secretariat from the parent department, and any expenditure is paid for by that department. These bodies usually deliver a particular public service and are overseen by a board rather than ministers. Appointments are made by ministers following the Code of Practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments . They employ their own staff and allocate their own budgets. These bodies have jurisdiction over an area of

288-496: Is service-related or conduct-related . Service-related complaints remain with the Commission, whilst conduct complaints are sent to the relevant professional organisation. By 2016, the Commission had developed a practice of classifying a complaint as a hybrid complaint - being both service and conduct related. However, the Inner House of the Court of Session ruled, in 2016, that the Commission lacked this power, and had to classify

320-609: Is responsible for their costs and has to note all expenses. NDPB differ from executive agencies as they are not created to carry out ministerial orders or policy, instead they are more or less self-determining and enjoy greater independence. They are also not directly part of government like a non-ministerial government department being at a remove from both ministers and any elected assembly or parliament. Typically an NDPB would be established under statute and be accountable to Parliament rather than to His Majesty's Government . This arrangement allows more financial independence since

352-517: The European System of Accounts (ESA.95). However, Statistics UK does not break out the detail for these bodies and they are consolidated into General Government (S.1311). Inner House The Inner House is the senior part of the Court of Session , the supreme civil court in Scotland ; the Outer House forms the junior part of the Court of Session. It is a court of appeal and

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384-596: The law . They are coordinated by His Majesty's Courts and Tribunals Service , an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice , and supervised by the Administrative Justice and Tribunals Council , itself an NDPB sponsored by the Ministry of Justice. These bodies were formerly known as "boards of visitors" and are responsible for the state of prisons, their administration, and the treatment of prisoners. The Home Office

416-456: The Commission are subject to judicial review by the Court of Session , but can only be heard with the permission of the Court. However, a complaint can only be brought if the following grounds are met, set out in Section 21 of the 2007 Act are met: The Commission was designed a single-point of contact for complaints against legal practitioners, and as such has the power to determine if a complaint

448-809: The Commission are subject to judicial review by the Court of Session . As of May 2018, the Chair of the Commission is Jim Martin, and the Chief Executive is Neil Stevenson Proposals for the Scottish Legal Services Commission were announced by the Scottish Executive on 22 December 2005. The proposals retained self-regulation of conduct with the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty of Advocates , with only unresolved service complaints being in

480-399: The Commission, affirming that the Commission has power as a matter of law of re-categorise or re-determine any previously categorised hybrid complaint. The Commission alone has the power to determine if a complaint is service-related or conduct-related, and such power is an exercise of administrative law, and as such is within its power. Non-departmental public body The term includes

512-590: The Court of Session to the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom . The constitutional settlement introduced by the Scotland Act 1998 further provided that, in cases where a 'devolution issue' arose, an appeal would lie, and the Inner House can remit a case, to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council . Both these types of appeal will go instead to the new Supreme Court of the United Kingdom from 2009. It

544-660: The First Division, headed by the Lord President; and the Second Division headed by the Lord Justice Clerk. The courts to hear each case are, ordinarily, drawn from these divisions. When neither is available to chair a hearing, an Extra Division of three senators is summoned, chaired by the most senior judge present; due to pressure of business this Extra Division sits frequently nowadays. The appellate jurisdiction of

576-460: The Inner House was substantially altered by the Courts Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 which created the Sheriff Appeal Court , which now sees civil appeals being heard by an Appeal Sheriff sitting in the Sheriff Appeal Court. Such appeals are binding on all sheriff courts in Scotland, and appeals can only be remitted (transferred) to the Inner House where they are deemed to be of wider public interest, raise

608-548: The Labour government in office from 1997 to 2010, though the political controversy associated with NDPBs in the mid-1990s for the most part died away. In 2010 the UK's Conservative-Liberal coalition published a review of NDPBs recommending closure or merger of nearly two hundred bodies, and the transfer of others to the private sector. This process was colloquially termed the "bonfire of the quangos". NDPBs are classified under code S.13112 of

640-502: The Law Society of Scotland criticised the Commission's proposal for a larger budget for 2018/19, and a 10% rise in the levy on solicitors. The President of the Law Society of Scotland stated, "People rightly ask why the SLCC is increasing its budget when eligible complaints for them to investigate are falling." The Commission has a Consumer Panel which is mandated by Schedule 1, Section 11A of

672-519: The Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007. The Commission is responsible for managing its own finances and setting its own annual budget and it is not funded by the public. It has an annual income of around £1.8   million, raised through a levy which is collected from the Law Society of Scotland , the Faculty of Advocates and the Association of Commercial Attorneys. Decisions of

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704-580: The UK Government. This total included 198 executive NDPBs, 410 advisory bodies, 33 tribunals, 21 public corporations, the Bank of England , 2 public broadcasting authorities and 23 NHS bodies. However, the classification is conservative and does not include bodies that are the responsibility of devolved government , various lower tier boards (including a considerable number within the NHS), and also other boards operating in

736-462: The complaint was dealt with by the relevant professional organisation. Conduct complaints are referred to the relevant professional organisation. The Commission has the power to fine legal practitioners whose service is sub-standard, but has no power to suspend or remove a solicitor's license to practice - such power rests with the Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal . Decisions of

768-617: The creation of a "public appointments commissioner" to make sure that appropriate standards were met in the appointment of members of NDPBs. The Government accepted the recommendation, and the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments was established in November 1995. While in opposition, the Labour Party promised to reduce the number and power of NDPBs. The use of NDPBs continued under

800-419: The four types of NDPB (executive, advisory, tribunal, and independent monitoring boards) but excludes public corporations and public broadcasters ( BBC , Channel 4 , and S4C ). The UK Government classifies bodies into four main types. The Scottish Government also has a fifth category: NHS bodies . These bodies consist of boards which advise ministers on particular policy areas. They are often supported by

832-490: The government is obliged to provide funding to meet statutory obligations. NDPBs are sometimes referred to as quangos . However, this term originally referred to quasi-NGOs bodies that are, at least ostensibly, non-government organisations , but nonetheless perform governmental functions. The backronym "quasi-autonomous national government organization" is used in this usage which is normally pejorative. In March 2009 there were nearly 800 public bodies that were sponsored by

864-563: The precedent of judgments in the Sheriff Appeal Court, so that when the Sheriff Appeal Court makes a decision on a question of law , it is binding in every sheriffdom for every sheriff court and every justice of the peace court. The decision is also binding on the Sheriff Appeal Court, unless it convenes a bench with a greater number of Appeal Sheriffs than the original court. Unlike the High Court of Justiciary , which deals with Scottish criminal cases, and whose decisions cannot in general be appealed beyond Scotland, appeals could be taken from

896-594: The public sector (e.g. school governors and police authorities). These appointed bodies performed a large variety of tasks, for example health trusts , or the Welsh Development Agency , and by 1992 were responsible for some 25% of all government expenditure in the UK. According to the Cabinet Office their total expenditure for the financial year 2005–06 was £167 billion. As of March 2020, there were 237 non-departmental public bodies. Critics argued that

928-507: The remit of the new Commission. The proposals also stated that funding of the new Commission would come from a levy on practising lawyers, and a further levy on those who are subject to complaints. Such proposals were not without criticism with both the Dead of the Faculty of Advocates and President of the Law Society of Scotland criticising the complexity and costs of the proposed system. The Commission

960-663: The system was open to abuse as most NDPBs had their members directly appointed by government ministers without an election or consultation with the people. The press , critical of what was perceived as the Conservatives' complacency in power in the 1990s, presented much material interpreted as evidence of questionable government practices. This concern led to the formation of a Committee on Standards in Public Life (the Nolan Committee) which first reported in 1995 and recommended

992-590: Was established under the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 and came into operation on 1 October 2008, replacing the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman . Previously, Bill Brackenridge had served as Chair, having taken over in February 2013, from Jane Irvine who had been the first chair of the Commission and who left office at the end of 2012. Jane Irvine had served the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman from April 2006. On 20 March 2018,

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1024-602: Was formerly argued that the Act of Union 1707 expressly forbade appeals from the Court of Session to the House of Lords . Throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries this was a matter of great concern, as Scottish cases were typically decided by Law Lords with no background in Scots Law . In modern times, the few cases which were so appealed were heard by a judicial committee of five which included at least two senior Scottish judges, but

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