Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman

The Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman was a non-departmental public body in Scotland appointed by the Scottish Ministers responsible for overseeing the internal complaints procedures of the Faculty of Advocates and the Law Society of Scotland but with considerable constraints on their investigatory remit. It was replaced by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission in 2008[1]

Part of a series on
Scots law
Administration Justice and Communities Directorate of the Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Justice Judicial Appointments Board Judicial Complaints Reviewer Parole Board for Scotland Legal Aid Board Courts & Tribunals Service College of Justice Office of the Public Guardian Scottish Sentencing Council Law Commission Criminal Cases Review Commission Prison Service
Civil courts Court of Session Lord President Lord Justice Clerk Lord of Session Office of the Accountant of Court Acts of Sederunt Sheriff Court Sheriff Appeal Court Sheriff Principal Sheriff Personal Injury Court Sheriff
Criminal courts High Court of Justiciary Lord Justice-General Lord Justice Clerk Lords Commissioner of Justiciary Acts of Adjournal Sheriff courts Sheriff Appeal Court Sheriff Principal Sheriffs Justice of the peace courts Justices of the peace
Special courts Court of the Lord Lyon Lord Lyon King of Arms Children's Reporter Administration Children's Hearings Land Court Lands Tribunal Scottish Solicitors' Discipline Tribunal
Criminal prosecution Lord Advocate Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Advocate Depute Procurator fiscal Fiscal fine Precognition
Legal profession Judiciary Faculty of Advocates Advocate Law Society Solicitor-Advocate Solicitor Association of Commercial Attorneys Scottish Legal Complaints Commission

The legal profession in Scotland is essentially self-regulating with solicitors licensed by, members of, and responsible to the Law Society of Scotland, with Advocates having the same relationship with the Faculty of Advocates. The Ombudsman was theoretically independent from the legal professions and the Scottish Executive; (but see below) the Ombudsman's findings and recommendations were not reviewed by Scottish Ministers or the Scottish Executive.

All allegations of criminal activities of Scottish lawyers are handled by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, the public prosecution service for Scotland headed by the Lord Advocate.

The organisation Scotland Against Crooked Lawyers did not believe the system provided by the Ombudsman gave sufficient independent scrutiny of the legal profession. The concerns however were held more broadly than this, with some observers fearing the Ombudsman had shown repeated bias in favour of the legal establishment when considering complaints.