COMMONS AMENDMENT (Hansard, 25 October 1990)

§ Lord Fraser of Carmyllie

My Lords, I beg to move that the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 83. In moving this amendment, I should like to speak also to Amendments Nos. 88, 99 and 238 to 241.

These amendments provide the Council of the Law Society, the Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal and the Scottish Conveyancing and Executry Services Board with a power to order the payment of compensation by a practitioner against whom a complaint of providing inadequate professional services has been upheld. It is intended that this compensation will be for distress or inconvenience which the client has suffered, although it will be open to these disciplinary bodies to order the payment of compensation for a specific and quantifiable financial loss.

Amendments along these lines have been pressed by the Scottish Consumer Council since the introduction of the Bill and I am confident that the consumer lobby in Scotland will give them a warm welcome. The Law Society of Scotland has indicated that it does not dispute the principle on which the amendments are based.

The amendments also include a further refinement, included after detailed discussions with the Law Society of Scotland, which makes it clear that any decision of the board, the tribunal or the council cannot be founded upon in any proceedings in order to show negligence on the part of the practitioner; that any award of compensation will be totally without prejudice to the client's right of redress under civil law; and that the amount of any award of compensation can be taken into account in the calculation of any award of damages by a court. These provisos will, I hope, meet with the approval of the House.

Moved, That the House do agree with the Commons in their Amendment No. 83.—(Lord Fraser of Carmyllie.)