Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025

Prospective

56 Services complaint: sanctions S

(1) The 2007 Act is amended as follows.

(2) In section 10 (Commission upholds services complaint)—

(a) after subsection (3), insert—

“(3A) Where the practitioner was, at the time when the services were provided, a partner of a firm, a direction under subsection (2)(c) may be given to the practitioner’s firm instead of the practitioner.

(3B) In the case where a direction under subsection (2)(c) is made to the employing practitioner or the practitioner’s firm, the direction may relate to systems operated by the employing practitioner or the practitioner’s firm that affect the provision of professional services generally by the employing practitioner or the practitioner’s firm where that is relevant to the complaint.”,

(b) in subsection (4)—

(i) paragraph (c) is repealed,

(ii) after paragraph (c) (and before the closing words), insert—

“(d) decision taken by a relevant professional organisation in respect of a conduct complaint, or a regulatory complaint, against the practitioner where the conduct complaint, or the regulatory complaint, arises from the same matter to which the services complaint relates,”.

(3) After section 12, insert—

“12A Services complaint upheld: failure to refund fees and outlays

(1) This section applies where—

(a) under section 10(2)(a), the Commission directs the practitioner or the employing practitioner (as the case may be) to refund an amount in respect of fees or outlays of the practitioner already paid by or on behalf of the client to whom the professional services were provided by the practitioner (such amount being referred to in this section as “the fee refund”),

(b) any proportion of the fee refund has not been paid by the expiry of the period of 90 days commencing on the day on which notice of the direction was given to the practitioner or the employing practitioner in accordance with rules made under section 32(1), and

(c) the failure to pay any proportion of the fee refund within that period is—

(i) where the direction was given to the practitioner, as a result of the death, insolvency or involuntary cessation of trade of the practitioner,

(ii) where the direction was given to the employing practitioner, as a result of the insolvency or involuntary cessation of trade of the employing practitioner.

(2) The proportion of the fee refund that has not been paid is to be treated for the purposes of the practitioner’s or the employing practitioner’s (as the case may be) professional indemnity insurance as if it were an amount of compensation that the Commission had directed under section 10(2)(d) the practitioner or employing practitioner to pay to the complainer.

(3) But subsection (2) applies only to the extent that the amount of the fee refund that has not been repaid, taken together with any amount of compensation that the Commission directed the practitioner or the employing practitioner to pay to the complainer under section 10(2)(d), does not exceed £35,000.

(4) The Scottish Ministers may by regulations amend subsection (3) to substitute a different amount for the one for the time being specified there.

(5) Before making regulations under subsection (4), the Scottish Ministers must consult—

(a) the relevant professional organisations, and

(b) such groups of persons representing consumer interests as they consider appropriate.”.

Commencement Information

I1 S. 56 not in force at Royal Assent, see s. 103(3)