Section 35: Services complaints: monitoring, reports, protocols and information sharing
69.Section 35 requires the Commission to monitor practice and trends in practice on matters which give rise to service complaints, and publish reports on any trends which it identifies at such intervals as it considers appropriate. The Commission and the professional organisations are required to enter into protocols to share information with each other on such matters as the number of services complaints and identifiable trends, the level of provisional settlements accepted by both parties, the substance of any services complaints which might reveal a possible abuse of legal aid, and determinations upholding services complaints. These provisions will assist the Commission to disseminate best practice in dealing with clients and complaints handling at local level and ensures that the Commission will bring to the attention of the professional bodies any abuses of legal aid which it uncovers.