COMMONS AMENDMENT (Hansard, 16 May 1956)

LORD MERTHYR

My Lords, this Amendment relates to Clause 8 of the Bill, which deals with matters concerning the disciplinary committee set up 500 under the Solicitors Act. 1932. The disciplinary committee is a body which sits to hear and determine applications or complaints under any of the provisions of the Solicitors Acts. The committee may be divided, and I understand often is so divided, into two or more divisions; and, as your Lordships may know, the divisions and this committee have to deal with matters of considerable importance to members of the profession, including matters of discipline and so forth.

The Bill laid down, as has been the case up to now, that the quorum of the committee shall be three. Hitherto there has been no exception to that rule, but the Bill also included, in Clause 8 (2), a proviso which read: …an application or complaint may, with the consent of the parties thereto, be heard and determined by only two members of the committee or division; That proviso was new and had never before been in any Act or Bill dealing with this matter. In another place, an Amendment to delete the proviso was moved and carried. The effect of the Amendment is to remove the proviso, so that, if your Lordships agree with it, the quorum will always be three, as it has been up to now. I hope that I have said enough to explain the nature of this Amendment to the Bill made in another place. If not, I shall be glad to try to amplify it. In my view, this is a reasonable Amendment, and I invite your Lordships to agree with it. I beg to move that this House doth agree with the Commons in the said Amendment.