Whether any examination has been undertaken in the last two years concerning the responses of the Law Society of Scotland and the Faculty o…

The Scottish Legal ServicesOmbudsman’s written report on a complaint, or Opinion, sets out herrecommendation on a case, and is sent only to the complainant, the practitionerand the professional body as required by section 34A of the Law Reform(Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990. The Ombudsman’s annual reportsfor 2002-03 and 2003-04 record that the Law Society of Scotland accepted mostof her recommendations to reconsider its decision, or re-investigate acomplaint, and that the Faculty of Advocates refused to accept a particularrecommendation in one case in 2002-03 and in two cases in 2003-04.
The Ombudsman can also makeadvisory recommendations to the professional bodies in her annual report abouttheir procedures for, and methods of, dealing with complaints. Section 34B of the 1990 act requires the professional bodies to consider such recommendationsand to notify the Ombudsman of the results of that consideration and any actionwhich they have taken, or propose to take, in consequence of the recommendation.The Ombudsman normally records in her annual report the responses made by theprofessional bodies to previous advisory recommendations and it is clear fromprevious reports that the majority of such recommendations have been acceptedand implemented in recent years.