Clause 6.—(SOLICITORS AND COUNSEL.) (Hansard, 25 May 1949)

§ The Attorney-General

I beg to move, in page 6, line 32, at the end, to insert: (3) Where a barrister or solicitor is aggrieved by any decision excluding him (whether permanently or temporarily) from the panels or any of them, he may appeal against the decision to the High Court and the High Court (whose decision shall be final) may confirm or quash the decision appealed against or may substitute such decision as the court thinks fit. Provision shall be made by rules of court for regulating appeals to the High Court under this subsection, and those rules shall provide for limiting the time within which appeals may be brought. 1355 The House knows that it is intended, as part of the legal aid and advice scheme, that tribunals should be established for dealing with complaints which may be made against the conduct of solicitors or banisters who are members of the panels to be established under Clause 6 and who act improperly in one way or another. We had some considerable discussion of this matter upstairs. I then gave an assurance that an appropriate appellate tribunal would be established for hearing appeals from those bodies. At the same time, appropriate steps would be taken administratively to ensure that the complaints tribunals, as we call them, would not deal with cases which were more proper to be dealt with under the existing disciplinary machinery of the professions, either by the Inns of Court or by the Disciplinary Committee of the Law Society. In regard to that matter, steps have been taken or will be taken to ensure that the complaints tribunals will not deal with cases which can and will be heard by the Benchers or by the Disciplinary Committee, and this Amendment is designed to create a right of appeal to the High Court.

8.0 p.m.

The High Court, under the existing law, is also the appellate tribunal from the existing disciplinary committees, that is to say, from the Benchers or from the Disciplinary Committee of the Law Society. Consequently, that appellate tribunal will be able to adminster uniform rules and principles in dealing with these cases, and all appeals, whether from the existing disciplinary bodies of the profession or from the complaints committee, will come up eventually to the High Court which will have jurisdiction in regard to them all. I need only add that the Inns of Court, the Bar Council, the Law Society, and also the Lord Chief Justice, have been consulted in regard to these proposals, and I am authorised to say that they think them appropriate as far as their interest is concerned.

§ Major Sir David Maxwell Fyfe (Liverpool, West Derby)

We are grateful to the right hon. and learned Gentleman for meeting us on this point on the lines that were suggested in the Committee. I do not know whether the Attorney-General has declared his interest on this occasion but, if he has not, he and I ought to do 1356 so, and I shall do it on his behalf as well as on my own because as Benchers of an Inn of Court we are concerned with the matter of this Amendment. While disclosing that interest, may I say that I am grateful, and also assure the House that I believe it will be an excellent thing that those matters which are proper for the ordinary disciplinary procedure—whether it be at the Bar where the matter goes to the Benchers, or in the solicitor's branch of the profession where it goes to the Statutory Committee—should be kept in the hands of these bodies, and we welcome the assurance of the right hon. and learned Gentleman on that point.

On the other group of cases, those which will deal with points which would not in the ordinary way be the subject of complaint, again I think that letting the different tribunals meet in the appellate tribunal of the High Court is the most satisfactory solution that could be found. As the right hon. and learned Gentleman said, this was discussed for some time upstairs and I have no desire to detain the House except again to thank the right hon. and learned Gentleman for meeting us on this point.