OFFICE OF FAIR
TRADING News Release (110/08) issued by COI News Distribution
Service. 24 September 2008
The OFT has
welcomed the move by the Dean of the Faculty of Advocates this
week to withdraw its rule banning so called 'mixed
doubles'. The OFT had previously expressed concern to the
Faculty that the rule, which said that Advocates and Solicitor
Advocates (solicitors with higher rights of audience) should not
appear in Court on behalf of the same client, could be anti
competitive and potentially in breach of the Competition Act 1998.
The withdrawal of the rule will allow clients to choose the
professional legal services that best meet their needs,
irrespective of whether they are provided by Advocates or
Solicitor Advocates.
The OFT believes that this will lead to increased choice, result
in clients incurring lower legal costs, and allow Advocates and
Solicitor Advocates to draw on their complementary strengths and
expertise in order to offer and develop new and improved ways of
providing advocacy services. Cavendish Elithorn, OFT Senior
Director of Services, said:
'We are very pleased that the Dean of the Faculty of
Advocates has responded to the concerns of the OFT and others and
withdrawn the rule, thus allowing Advocates and Solicitor
Advocates to work together. Consumers in Scotland will now have
the same choices as those in England and Wales and benefit from a
more competitive market.'
NOTES
1. Advocates offer specialist legal representation and advice to
clients of solicitors and of members of certain other professional
bodies. They have rights of audience before the higher Scottish Courts.
2. Prior to the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) Scotland
1990 Act only Advocates could appear before the higher Scottish
Courts the Court of Session, the High Court of Justiciary, the
House of Lords and the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
3. Under section 24 of the Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions)
Scotland Act 1990 suitably qualified solicitors in Scotland were
for the first time granted rights of audience in the higher
courts. The aim of the reform was to give consumers of legal
services the widest possible choice of legal representative,
consistent with the efficient administration of justice.
4. In Scotland, any Solicitor who wishes to acquire extended
rights of audience must satisfy the Council of the Law Society of
Scotland about both their professional conduct and reputation and
their competency in the practice and procedure of the Supreme
Courts. In addition they are required to pass an examination.
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