Disagreements over the regulation and discipline of the profession will not be resolved overnight, says Des Hudson
Marc Beaumont’s recent NLJ article “When the Gloves Are Off…” raised a number of important issues about the conduct of the cases before the Solicitors’ Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) and Solicitors’ Regulation Authority (SRA) investigations (see NLJ, 13 February 2009, p 213).
Ours is a profession built on integrity. It is the first rule of the Code of Conduct by which we are all bound, and the keystone without which the reputation of solicitors for independence and impartiality would fall in on itself. Happily, the vast majority of solicitors act in an unimpeachable fashion. Sometimes mistakes are made, but few solicitors break the rules deliberately through dishonest motives.
When the rules are transgressed, it is crucial that an effective and proportionate system is in place to investigate any complaint, ascertain the facts of a situation and to hold individuals to account in a proper manner. It is self-evident that our processes and procedures must themselves be unimpeachable. Fairness must sit at the heart of our process—fairness both
