SLCC chief quits pre-consultation

The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) has lost its interim chief executive just as it launches a consultation on its proposed rules.

Richard ;Smith, ;a consultant in the Scottish government's ;justice directorate, has stood down to focus on other projects.

John Murphy, also a government consultant, will take over until a permanent chief executive is appointed. Murphy will oversee the SLCC launch, which is expected to be up-and-running by October.

As reported by The Lawyer (21 January), Scottish legal services ombudsman Jane Irvine, who is coordinating the rules consultation, has been appointed to chair the SLCC.

"The rules will set a baseline that will allow us to develop a process alongside them," she said. "They're as simple as we can make them but they have to be read along with the [Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007]."

The draft rules cover issues such as the appropriate timing of making a complaint and mediation.

The ;SLCC ;has ;been set up to deal with service complaints against lawyers, a role filled historically by the Law Society of Scotland, which will continue to deal with complaints relating to lawyers' misconduct while the Faculty of Advocates will do the same for advocates.