§ 4.51 p.m.
§ Order of the Day for the House to be put into Committee read.
§ Moved, That the House do now resolve itself into Committee.—(Lord Keith of Avonholm.)
§ On Question, Motion agreed to.
§ House in Committee accordingly.
§ [The LORD TERRINGTON in the Chair]
§ Clauses 1 to 16 agreed to.
§ Clause 17 [Provisions as to the keeping of the roll]:
§
LORD KEITH OF AVONHOLM moved, in subsection (2), after "such" to insert "reasonable." The noble and learned Lord said: 'The Amendment that stands in my name on the Order Paper arises out of what I think is an over-sigh in the original drafting of the Bill. Subsection (2) of Clause 17 provides for the restoration to the roll of the name of a solicitor who, for one reason or another, has been removed from it, and provides that he shall make a payment
of such fee in respect of restoration as the Council may fix, …
As your Lordships will see, there is no limit to the amount of the fee, and although it cannot be supposed that the Law Society of Scotland would fix a fee that would be unreasonable, the Bill does not say that it shall be a reasonable fee. The Amendment proposes to describe the fee as "such reasonable fee".
§ There is another point that makes this necessary—that is, that subsection (3) provides for an appeal against the decision of the Council with regard to restoration, which would cover the question of the fee that is charged, if the applicant thought that it was unreasonable. If the Bill were to stand in its present form there would be no basis upon which an appeal could be made, because "such fee" does not suggest any limit at all. The introduction of the word "reasonable" would not only satisfy the intention of the Bill but would also give some substance for the court to deal with on appeal. I beg to move.
§
Amendment moved—
Page 9, line 29, after ("such") insert ("reasonable").—(Lord Keith of Avonholm.)
§ LORD MATHERSIt may seem redundant for me to put this question to a lawyer, but is "reasonable" a sufficiently precise word for a legal enactment? What actually is implied by "reasonable", and is the noble and learned Lord satisfied that the use of that word is sufficient guarantee that the matter will be dealt with reasonably?
§ LORD KEITH OF AVONHOLMI think that I can give an assurance to my noble friend that "reasonable" would give sufficient protection to anybody who is affected by this clause, particularly in view of the right of appeal, which I do not think would ever have to be exercised. I cannot imagine that a court would have any difficulty in deciding whether a fee, simply for the restoration of a person's name to the roll, was a reasonable or an unreasonable fee. I think that this Amendment would be adequate for the purpose.
§ LORD MATHERSI thank the noble and learned Lord.
§ On Question, Amendment agreed to.
§ Clause 17, as amended, agreed to.
§ Remaining clauses and Schedules agreed to.
§ House resumed.