Law Society of Scotland officials are determined to prevent forced compliance with FOI. FOUR YEARS after the first calls were made to the Scottish Government to bring the Law Society of Scotland into compliance with Freedom of Information legislation, attitudes apparently remain unchanged at the Justice Department over calls to force greater transparency & accountability on the lawyers regulatory, despite the fact the new regulator for complaints against Scottish solicitors, the joint taxpayer-lawyer funded Scottish Legal Complaints Commission is itself FOI compliant.
I have reported on the Scottish Government’s reluctance to make the legal profession comply with Freedom of Information laws in an earlier article here : MacAskill’s ‘no intention to include Law Society in FOI review’ allows lawyers to keep scandals & criminal records hidden from public scrutiny
Justice Secretary MacAskill is rumoured to be 'bitter' over calls to make lawyers comply with Freedom of Information. The Scottish Government's three year go slow on bringing the Law Society of Scotland into the scope of Freedom of Information legislation, has today been attributed by sources within the administration to problems of bias in the Justice Department itself, with civil servants being described as 'very angry' that members of the public should even be calling for such reforms. The Justice Secretary himself, aware of publicity surrounding the secretive nature of the Law Society is also rumoured to be "very bitter" that critics of the legal profession have even dared suggest the Law Society be brought within the scope of Freedom of Information legislation.
A legal insider today said : "Officials at the Justice Department are less than pleased that members of the public, campaign groups and journalists have made enquires on the lack of progress of reforms in legal services. Occasionally, civil servants have themselves hit out at critics of the slow pace of justice reforms, with less than gentlemanly outbursts, due to impressions given the Justice Department itself is now covering up for corruption, and even perhaps criminality in the legal profession itself."
He went on : "The Justice Secretary himself, is well known to be vehemently against anyone who dares criticise his colleagues in the legal profession, to the point that any idea put forward from outside the legal establishment to 'improve' public access to justice, or, as in this case, making the legal profession compliant with freedom of information laws, MacAskill has set himself diametrically against, simply out of bloody mindedness."
A senior journalist with one of Scotland’s major newspapers confirmed the level of hostility towards those calling for reform of the legal profession. He said : “One civil servant I know launched into a shocking barrage of insults against particular individuals whom it is well known the Law Society tried to exclude from major Scottish Parliamentary inquiries on the state of regulation of the legal profession.”
“I don't think there is any need for this level of prejudice in the civil service. If it is the case that some officials within SG feel so partisan against the public on issues of reforming the legal profession, they should go work for the Law Society instead of the Scottish Government.”
The Scottish Government are bitterly resisting reforms to the legal sector. It seems somewhat at odds to me, with the era we are now living in, where secrecy, self regulation and the corruption & greed which both issues seem to breed, have virtually wiped out our main banks, trust in the financial sector, and even trust in politicians not to over claim on their expenses accounts, that the Scottish Government are still so bitterly resisting making the legal profession compliant with Freedom of Information laws, and also remain so opposed to implementing fully independent regulation of solicitors, to safeguard consumers best interests.
This resistance on the part of the Scottish Government to process any reforms of the way regulation and client business is handled by the Law Society of Scotland, is an almost perfect mirror image of the resistance from the legal profession itself, who are determined to remain immune from FOI legislation, and virtually all other forms of independent oversight which may very well end up revealing an even greater scale of corruption within the Scots legal sector which might take critics such as myself by surprise.
John Swinney revealed Law Society Chiefs threatened anyone who called for regulatory reforms. Indeed, while the first calls for making the Law Society of Scotland comply with Freedom of Information laws were being made, Cabinet Secretary John Swinney MSP, then in opposition, revealed that the Law Society’s then Chief Executive Douglas Mill was busy attacking such ideas, even issuing open threats to the Financial Services Authority and any future regulator who might consider taking a stick to the vast sea of corruption which surrounds areas such as the Law Society's discredited Master Policy & Guarantee Fund client compensation arrangements, which some liken to money laundering operations.
John Swinney says a sea change is needed in attitudes to regulating the legal profession. How true …
SLCC's Chair Jane Irvine, supports the idea of making the Law Society comply with Freedom of Information. However, while Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill continues his go slow on making the Law Society comply with Freedom of Information legislation, a growing number of consumer groups and even some from within the legal establishment itself, such as the Chair of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission, Jane Irvine, are supporting the idea that the public interest would be best served by making the legal profession's governing body FOI compliant.
You can read an earlier article I wrote about the SLCC's Chief Jane Irvine who came out and supported FOI compliance for the Law Society of Scotland, here : Legal Complaints Chief supports ‘consumer advantages’ of removing Law Society’s Freedom of Info immunity
Scottish Legal Complaints Commission has suffered several scandals as a result of FOI disclosures. Admittedly, the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission is no angel itself, when it comes to the Commission's own compliance with Freedom of Information laws. In some cases, the SLCC has chosen (allegedly through Ministerial direction) to censor disclosed material to particular journalists, and on other occasions, has apparently been authorised to lie in FOI disclosures. You can find some more good FOI scandals involving the SLCC HERE.
SLCC blacked out FOI disclosures in true Westminster style and Law Society might do the same if made FOI compliant. However, while the Information Commissioner is investigating these breeches of FOI laws by the SLCC, and has already criticised the commission in a number of decisions for their poor practices, FOI has brought us an invaluable insight into the way the legal profession will co-opt independent organisations set up as a result of legislation to look at client complaints, and perhaps even more importantly, has also shown us the steps some officials take, and the lengths some are willing to go, to stifle public debate and calls for legitimate reforms which are certainly in the public interest.
As politicians are subject to Freedom of Information laws, as the Police are subject to Freedom of Information laws, as indeed are many other public bodies & services, including local & national Government are subject to Freedom of Information laws, then so also must the legal profession be made subject to Freedom of Information laws, a reform which is definitely in the public interest.
Clearly he doesnt want to do it Peter.
ReplyDeleteHe must be afraid he will need to go back to lawyering again when he is eventually kicked out of politics (sooner the better for Scotland !)
THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT WILL BE THE FINAL NAIL IN THE lAW SOCIETY/SLCC COFFIN. THE PARASITIC MP's MUST COMPLY, NOW IT'S THE LAWYERS TURN. MACASKILL CANNOT STAND IN THE WAY OF THIS, AND MAINTAIN ANY FRAGMENT OF CREDIBILITY HE HAS LEFT. WE ARE WATCHING YOU AND THAT FISHY BUGGER SALMOND,(no pun intended).
ReplyDelete"As politicians are subject to Freedom of Information laws, as the Police are subject to Freedom of Information laws, as indeed are many other public bodies & services, including local & national Government are subject to Freedom of Information laws, then so also must the legal profession be made subject to Freedom of Information laws, a reform which is definitely in the public interest".
THERE WILL BE SOME STINK WHEN DOCUMENTS ARE RELEASED.
Law Society of Scotland officials are determined to prevent forced compliance with FOI.
ReplyDelete-------------------------------------
So they want to break the law, how can lawyers purport to stand for justice and law , but not be subjected to compliance with this act? The answer is simple, fear of the revelations complaince with the FOI Act will bring, exposing the Law Society/SLCC for the criminals they are. Your days are numbered, and so are Kenny MacAskill's, useless bugger.
Justice Secretary MacAskill is rumoured to be 'bitter' over calls to make lawyers comply with Freedom of Information.
ReplyDelete-------------------------------------
This is no surprise. I believe MacAskill said the "Law Society is a professional organisation and will not be subjected to freedom of information laws".
Well Kenny, professional organisation for protecting your colleagues from the consequences of corruption. It's status does not matter, its honesty and integrity do, and Mill was the captain of the ship, Pritchard, Yelland, clients know these names the way the public know footballers. These three men are crooks, so are you. Expecting you to deal with this would be like asking a Rangers of Celtic supported to be a referee at an old firm game. Preposterous, and yet Salmond leaves you in your job, what is in it for him?
I have seen crooked doctors, crooked lawyers, they all suffer the same chronic denial when they are caught being dishonest. Let me put it this way MacAskill, if you were in charge of documents being released from the Law Society/SLCC large sections would be blacked out, just like the MP's expenses.
You are driven to protect your profession, but you will fail, or resign same thing. You are The Scottish Legal Professions Justice Minister, no servant can serve two masters and you belong with Mill, Yelland or Masterman.
I have dealt with lawyers, and quite frankly they are habitual liars, who only see the professions rights. You are the same, and I think there are documents in the Law Society archives that will show you as a dishonest man when you worked in a law firm. Self protection is your primary motive, what will we find out about you?
I'd have to ask a simple question :
ReplyDeleteWhy is Kenny MacAskill so afraid of making the Law Society obey foi ?
A real belter of a story kid and I will make sure it gets to the Telegraph.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work !!
The Justice Secretary himself, aware of publicity surrounding the secretive nature of the Law Society is also rumoured to be "very bitter" that critics of the legal profession have even dared suggest the Law Society be brought within the scope of Freedom of Information legislation.
ReplyDeleteTHE CHRONIC BIAS DISPLAYED BY THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT IS INDICATIVE OF THE PROBLEMS THE PUBLIC HAVE WITH THIS PROFESSION. TOTAL POWER IS HOW I WOULD DESCRIBE THE LAW SOCIETIES POSITION, CLIENTS WILL NEVER GET JUSTICE AS LONG AS THIS DICTATORSHIP REMAINS.
IF NEW LABOUR COULD BAN ALL OTHER POLITICAL PARTIES WE WOULD HAVE A FORM OF DICTATORSHIP, THE LAW SOCIETY IS NOT ELECTED BUT HAS FORMIDABLE POWER. IT IS A DICTATORSHIP WHERE JUSTICE AGAINST THE LEGAL PROFESSION IS CONCERNED. IF THEY COULD PUT HITLER IN A WIG AND GOWN AND GIVE HIM AN LLB DEGREE YELLAND WOULD PROTECT HIM.
THIS ORGANISATION IS A LAWYER LOVING PROTECTION RACKET. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR A LAY MEMBER OF THE PUBLIC TO OBTAIN JUSTICE WHILE LAWYERS HAVE A MONOPOLY ON THE PROVISION OFF LEGAL SERVICES. FUCK MACASKILL AND THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT, HOW MANY LAWYERS ARE IN IT? THE FACT THEY DO NOT WANT THE FOI ACT TO APPLY TO THE LAW SOCIETY IS EVIDENCE ENOUGH THAT IT IS A CORRUPT CRIMINAL ORGANISATION.
I wouldnt worry too much about pompous arrogant civil servants, Peter.
ReplyDeleteIf you do get wind some of them are up to no good just let Sir John Elvidge know about it although he's in the soup just now after Holyrood had a go at him over misleading some inquiry.
Its well known there are a few nasties working at SG and I can just imagine a few sucking right up to Kenny since the snp are currently running the show (into the ground)
As politicians are subject to Freedom of Information laws, as the Police are subject to Freedom of Information laws, as indeed are many other public bodies & services, including local & national Government are subject to Freedom of Information laws, then so also must the legal profession be made subject to Freedom of Information laws, a reform which is definitely in the public interest.
ReplyDelete-----------------------------------
Yes Peter you are 100% correct, but as we know the intense resistance from the Law Society, MacAskill and friends at the Justice department demonstrate it is in their interests to keep things the way they are.
MacAskill needs kicked out on his arse, wrong person as Justice Minister.
Oh look more blacked out papers so it must be Westminster but no ! Its the bloody lawyers at it too !
ReplyDeleteI guess they will be burning box loads of files every time you write a story about this Peter !
A small number of MPs and peers will face criminal investigations into allegations they misused their expenses.
ReplyDeleteScotland Yard said a joint assessment panel of senior detectives and prosecutors had decided full inquiries were necessary.
=====================================
Cash for Honours Mark II, there will never be any prosecutions.
Anything that is secretive is sinister. Criminals like to hide their activities from outsiders, but The Law Societies members are too powerful to be cloaked in secrecy.
ReplyDeleteJust like cigarettes, there should be a public health warning displayed about lawyers,
DEALING WITH LAWYERS IS A RISK YOU SHOULD AVOID UNLESS YOU WANT YOUR LIFE RUINED?
Self regulation leads to abuse of process, MPs have confirmed that, but there is none as blind as those who will not see - stand up Mr MacAskill and the SNP.
ReplyDeleteInstead they choose to stubbornly ignore the many voices of Consumer Organisations and others - supported by the 'civil' service - continue to protect The Law Society of Scotland from any meaningful or proper public scrutiny, maintain their own dubious attachment to the disgraced insurance provider Marsh and its cronies, while protecting all those whose vested interests lie in maintaining the status quo.
No wonder the UN advisor on Human Rights and Democracy compared the Scottish Legal sysem to a 'banana republic' last year.
Newsflash - Nothing has changed.
What we have here is a clear case of MacAskill keeping his options open because he might need to fall back on being a lawyer one day since he is the worst Justice Minister Scotland has ever had.Worst Ever.
ReplyDeletePOSTER CAMPAIGN
ReplyDeleteLAW SOCIETY PROTECTS CROOKED LAWYERS
# Anonymous @ 11:19pm ...
ReplyDelete"No wonder the UN advisor on Human Rights and Democracy compared the Scottish Legal sysem to a 'banana republic' last year.
Newsflash - Nothing has changed."
How right you are.
There will no change either so long as MacAskill and Salmond rule and the Scottish Nasties remain in power.
You poor deluded fools for voting these crooks into power on 3 May 2007.
Scotland under these Nazis is indeed fast becoming the 'banana republic' of Europe when it comes to law and justice.
Looks like you are stuck with it too if the way Salmond protected his beleaguered INjustice Secretary against the opposition calls for his resignation over recent weeks is anything to go by.
Just what dirt does MacAskill have on Salmond?
Start fishing Peter ... into the fishy exploits of the Salmon!
Scotland needs to be rid of that bad one ... or injustice will continue and nothing will change.
_____________________________
Renewed calls for Kenny MacAskill to resign ...
MacAskill must go
Published Date: Saturday 30 May 2009
After the latest blunders of escapes from our open prisons under the watch of the accident-prone Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill, surely the First Minister will finally realise that he cannot continue his loyal support for a man who has upset so many with his determination to introduce damaging justice policies.
His policies have been denounced by judges, sheriffs, the victims of crime and the public in Scotland, who want a safer country to live in and proper justice for those who abuse our way of life.
How many more lives are left in this justice secretary's locker. Regular calamities seem to follow him and his soft-touch justice ideas and, apart from the supoort of the blinkered Alex Salmond, the men and women who don't bother to pay fines or turn up for community service and those who decide to escape from holiday camps such as Castle Huntly, he has little credibility left.
Mr Salmond's standing in Scotland has been badly damaged and will continue to be further dented unless he forgets loyalty and rids himself of this man who has let down Scotland and its world-respected [NOT ANY LONGER!] justice system.
IAIN J McCONNELL
Gifford
East Lothian
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/MacAskill-must-go.5318118.jp
People of Scotland,
ReplyDeleteHave any of you ever dealt with a lawyer called Kenny MacAskill?
Did you receive good professional advice and representation, or not?
I wonder if Kenny MacAskill has been reported to the Law Society of Scotland during his time with a law firm. That could be his main motive for resisting Law Society FOI compliance. He is a lousy justice minister, unless you are a lawyer of course.
PM 'not keen on trappings of power'
ReplyDeleteLast Updated: Saturday, 20 June 2009, 06:09 GMT
AOL NEWS
Gordon Brown has said he has no interest in the trappings of power and could walk away from Downing Street at any time.
The Prime Minister, who faced down an attempted leadership coup earlier this month, also indicated his "hurt" at some of the criticism levelled at him over that period.
In an unusually personal interview with The Guardian, he admitted he wishes he was a better communicator and claimed he is not very good at political manoeuvring.
Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the failed backbench plot to oust him a fortnight ago, Mr Brown said: "To be honest, you could walk away from all of this tomorrow.
Yes Gordon, go and take that useless bugger MacAskill with you.
MPs are facing criminal investigations into allegations that they abused their expenses - as still more revelations were made about their dubious claims.
ReplyDeleteScotland Yard is launching full inquiries into several MPs and peers, who are believed to include Labour MPs David Chaytor and Elliot Morley, both of whom claimed for non-existent mortgages.
HOW CAN THESE PEOPLE GET OUT OF THIS ONE, THEY WILL COME OUT WITH SOME STATEMENT LIKE
"OH I FORGOT MY MORGAGE WAS PAID OFF".
"THE WIFE WAS DEALING WITH THE MORGAGE PAYMENTS"
WELL CHAYTOR AND MORLEY, WE KNOW YOU CLAIMED BECAUSE YOU THOUGHT FOI LAWS WOULD NOT APPLY TO YOU. YOU SHOULD HAVE BUSHY TAILS LIKE BASIL BRUSH, A PAIR OF FOXES AND WITH A BIT OF LUCK THE KEEPERS FROM SCOTLAND YARD WILL PUT YOU IN A NICE PEN CALLED STRANGEWAYS OR PENTONVILLE. IF YOU ARE NOT LOCKED UP IT WILL BE ANOTHER CASH FOR HONOURS SETUP, REMEMBER THE POLICE DID NOT GET ALL THE E MAILS THEY NEEDED FOR THAT CASE.
MPs 'over-claimed' on council tax
ReplyDeleteHouses of Parliament BBC NEWS
Several MPs are said to have claimed too much for their council tax
More than 50 MPs have claimed expenses for council tax they have not paid, the Daily Telegraph says.
Yes and Kenny MacAskill's lot south of the border will help them escape prosecution, should they be charged?
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteClearly he doesnt want to do it Peter.
He must be afraid he will need to go back to lawyering again when he is eventually kicked out of politics (sooner the better for Scotland !)
4:22 PM
If documents released under FOI laws, reveal MacAskill is a crook he will not be able to go back to lawyering again. When we see the crookedness of Douglas Mill and the rest of them, we know how MacAskill remains bitter over calls to make the Law Society comply with the FOI laws. They have had four years to do this, clearly they are protecting the people they see as important.
Lawyers victims are insignificant to MacAskill to the extent he should never have been given his current ministerial post. You would be as well asking Dr Geobbles to go against Hitler, in the bunker when the Russians were near the centre of Berlin. Goebbles shot his wife and them himself, and Dr Stumpfegger administered poison on Frau Goebbles instruction to their six children, that is how loyal these Nazi's were. MacAskill will be glad he does not have to shoot himself, but he is totally loyal to other lawyers to the extent he believes we owe a great service to Scotland's legal profession. Bullshit, MacAskill we owe your crooked bastard profession nothing except public exposure for years of corruption, and injustice towards all Scots. (You are all Solicitors from Hell).
Asking MacAskill to go against his colleagues is like asking Dr Goebbles to assasinate Hitler. We would be as well asking MacAskill to shoot his own family, it will never happen, so he has to go, and take the justice department for lawyers with you Kenny. His constituents should vote him out, especially over the MacKenzie Friends issue. If you find me offensive, the feeling is mutual.
Anonymous said...
ReplyDeleteSelf regulation leads to abuse of process, MPs have confirmed that, but there is none as blind as those who will not see - stand up Mr MacAskill and the SNP.
Instead they choose to stubbornly ignore the many voices of Consumer Organisations and others - supported by the 'civil' service - continue to protect The Law Society of Scotland from any meaningful or proper public scrutiny, maintain their own dubious attachment to the disgraced insurance provider Marsh and its cronies, while protecting all those whose vested interests lie in maintaining the status quo.
No wonder the UN advisor on Human Rights and Democracy compared the Scottish Legal sysem to a 'banana republic' last year.
Newsflash - Nothing has changed.
11:19 PM
I COULD NOT HAVE PUT THIS BETTER MYSELF, SPOT ON.
I suspect there are powerful lobbies against foi being implemented against the Law Society.
ReplyDeleteeg I can't see the Faculty of Advocates being too happy because they would also have to be included along with bodies such as the Legal Defence Union etc who are happy to remain in the shadows.
I hope you succeed on this point Peter - it is a very good idea and after what happened to our politicians I am a firm believer as you are that any public service,industry or whatever should be made accountable to FOI.
It is interesting how Masterman etc find the anti lawyer pressure groups offensive. If they are offensive to lawyers it is because the pressure groups are right, it is the lawyers who are corrupt. Why should lawyers be honest, after all lawyers regulate themselves and are cover up masters.
ReplyDeleteI would advise all victims of crooked lawyers to put your experiences on Solicitors from Hell. I believe all solicitors are from hell, criminaly minded crooks without a shred of honesty, integrity or credibility. Lawyers are poison, who bring disaster to their victims.
Swinney certainly knows his stuff when it comes to creeps like lawyers and good to see him giving them a hard time in the parliament
ReplyDeleteWe need more of it John !
Go public to expose your corrupt lawyer, the existing complaints channels protect lawyers not clients.
ReplyDeleteIf you use the complaints channels I promise you years of frustration and letter writing. You will be writing to people who detest clients complaining about members of the legal profession, never mind give your complaint a fair examination.
The Law Society, Scottish Legal Complaints Commission are MacAskill's cover up specialists, they hate clients as much as Hitler hated the Treaty of Versailles.
If there are no prosecutions over the MP's MSP'S expenses scandal, it will reinforce the two tier justice system that exists at present.
ReplyDeleteI am sick of these people saying "if mistakes have been made", and "I acted within the rules". These people always take money out of the system, not the converse.
Where there is clear evidence of morgages being paid off and MP's claiming expenses for those morgages, prosecutions must follow. Do they think taxpayers are fools? I hate their lies in quotation marks above. They knew what they were doing. Clearly a case of being sorry for being caught, rather that fraudulently claiming in the first place. They should be Members of Pentonville not Members of Parliament. Jail the lot of them.
"The Justice Secretary himself, is well known to be vehemently against anyone who dares criticise his colleagues in the legal profession, to the point that any idea put forward from outside the legal establishment to 'improve' public access to justice, or, as in this case, making the legal profession compliant with freedom of information laws, MacAskill has set himself diametrically against, simply out of bloody mindedness."
ReplyDeleteMacAskill the Justice Blocker, an man who only percieves justice through a lawyers eyes. He must have shares in March UK Royal Sun Alliance, crooked bastard.
Thanks for all your comments on this article.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the sentiments expressed by all in that the legal profession, and as some have pointed out, not just the Law Society but also the Faculty of Advocates and organisations such as the Legal Defence Union, must be made accountable to Freedom of Information legislation.
There is, as I have reported, a bitter campaign being waged by vested interests in maintaining immunity from FOI, and after four years later, it must be clear to anyone that the Scottish Government are an ally to the legal profession in this cause, otherwise lawyers would have been made accountable to FOI years ago.
I'd suggest to anyone interested in pursuing this campaign, they write into the Justice Secretary and also make it more generally known that their lawyer and the services they provide, backed up by the profession, are not transparent ... public pressure is certainly needed on this issue to budge the Government into action, over the veto for continued secrecy, of the Law Society, and it seems, the Justice Secretary himself.
Law Society of Scotland officials are determined to prevent forced compliance with FOI.
ReplyDeleteThe above statement should be in all of the newspapers as this speaks volumes about the corruption within The Law Society of Scotland. The public have a right to know that Salmond and MacAskill are in bed with Scotlands lawyers, and do not care about the rights of the Scottish Electorate.
It is impossible to give victims of crooked lawyers a fair hearing when lawyers are in the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission. It is like the KGB being allowed to work in MI6, a threat to national security would be the outcry. Lawyers are ruining people's lives and the Law Society want to keep it that way because it is profitable, simple as that, but look at all lawyers who end up in trouble, they get lawyers to represent them. They are not left without rights, because the Law Society dictatorship orders law firms to abandon the victims of crooked lawyers. The regulatory body protects bent lawyers, that is why standards of legal services are poor and corrupt. The captain of the ship will not double haul you if you do wrong.
The public need to know that Salmond is leaving victims of crooked lawyers with no rights, but the same man wants to be first minister in an independant Scotland. This man is not trustworthy, a lawyer loving minister like his subordinate. He is like Hitler in some respects, he shouts about independence, making Scotland stronger internationally, and remains silent about the stranglehold his government is maintaining with regard to the provision of fair legal services. He talks about democracy, and leaves legal investigations of crooked lawyers to an unaccountable dictatorship called the Law Society of Scotland. He is a disgrace to Scotland, and the antithesis of decency and honesty.
Kenny MacAskill MSP
ReplyDeleteCabinet Secretary for Justice
Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh
EH99 1SP
Kenny.MacAskill.msp@scottish.parliament.uk
Dear Kenny
A short letter from your fellow Scots ...
Scotland’s People – Population c.5,100,000.
Scotland’s Lawyers – Population c.10,000.
There are 5,090,000 reasons why you must put aside any loyalties you still harbour for your former legal “profession”, and henceforth put your Edinburgh constituents and the people of Scotland FIRST – that’s the 5,090,000 non-lawyers.
If you want to remain a mouthpiece for Scotland’s legal profession, then you must resign immediately and return to being one of the gang of 10,000.
No “conflicts of interest” JUSTICE Secretaries are welcome, or should be allowed to continue, by the people of Scotland.
Conflicts of interest = Protection of sacred cows = Conspiring to defeat the ends of justice. Ever thus.
So, Kenny. What is it to be?
Looking forward to your response in early course.
Yours aye,
The People of Scotland
(The 5,090,000 non-lawyers)
Another lawyer and a rent boy !
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with all these marreid father of kids lawyers who have affairs with rent boys ?
We dont get to find out how many lawyers or judges in Scotland shag rent boys on the side because MacAskill's palls in the legal mafia keep it quiet unless the media gets it out !
http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/news/372316/Judge-Gerald-Price-QC-ruled-on-vice-cases-but-paid-for-sex-in-secret.html
COURT IN THE ACT
Judge ruled on vice cases.. but paid for sex in secret
By Dan Evans, 21/06/2009
A SENIOR married judge had a secret nine-month fling with a £250-a-night RENT BOY, the News of the World can reveal.
Judge Gerald Price QC, 60, was so besotted with 25-year-old Christopher Williams he set him up with a FLAT, paid him a monthly ALLOWANCE and let him sit on the bench in court as he presided over TRIALS.
Williams said: "His business is truth but he's been living a lie."
The judge is under investigation by The Ministry of Justice today after the News of the World discovered he risked his marriage and his career for a passionate affair with the male prostitute.
Judge Price grew so obsessed with the rent boy 35 years his junior that he let him sit next to him in COURT while he jailed criminals.
Price gave 25-year-old Christopher Williams unfettered access to three Crown Courts - an abuse of power that will horrify the authorities. The judge also used his experience to help Williams beat a public order rap - at the same time as paying him a monthly £420 for what he called a sex "season ticket".
Williams even got to see sensitive confidential trial papers and defendants' criminal records.
Now the £129,000-a-year lawyer and father-of-two faces a charge sheet of his own as we detail the affair conducted behind the back of his trusting wife, revealing shocking lapses of judgement in which he:
* PAID for gay sex in a hotel despite ruling on VICE cases.
* RENTED two flats for Williams as love nests for their secret fling.
* EXPOSED himself to the threat of blackmail.
* PRETENDED to court officials that Williams was a law student.
* TOOK Williams away on official business, staying in hotel rooms.
* PROPOSED on one knee to the rent boy, vowing to leave his wife.
Last night in an exclusive interview gay escort Williams said: "What Gerald did was dangerous. His business was truth but he lived a lie. He was at real risk of being blackmailed. Imagine the power a criminal could wield over a judge with info like this."
SICK SICK SICK ! Poor wife and kids I hope they get over it !
BBC NEWS
ReplyDeleteMPs 'disingenuous' over expenses
reciepts
Key details of claims were blacked out for security reasons
Scotland's information commissioner has criticised "disingenuous" MPs over the withholding of details from their published expenses.
Kevin Dunion said he was concerned that blame for the level of blacked-out information on the claims had been laid with the House of Commons authorities.
MPs' expenses claims for the past four years were put online after a long-running Freedom of Information battle.
Information was removed on "privacy and security" grounds.
But Mr Dunion told BBC Scotland's Politics Show that some of the details which were witheld, or redacted, would have been disclosed under the Scottish Parliament system.
'Kicking and screaming'
"I thought it looked appalling and, secondly, I'm really quite concerned by the disingenuous statements I've heard by party leaders and parliamentarians saying this is down to the House of Commons staff being overzealous in blacking these things out," he said.
"A year ago, parliamentarians in Westminster voted for this information not only to be blacked out from their receipts but to be taken outside the scope of freedom of information altogether. (A BUNCH OF CROOKS. WE HAVE CRIMINALS REPRESENTING US IN PARLIAMENT. TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE).
"In other words - if you want to ask what lies behind that black ink, in Scotland you might be able to do so - in England you simply cannot."
Mr Dunion's comments came on Michael Martin's last day as Speaker of the Commons.
Mr Martin decided to quit the post after facing criticism over his handling of the expenses issue. (HE DID NOT, HIS POSITION WAS UNTENABLE).
The Scottish information commissioner said MPs had to be "dragged kicking and screaming" into the disclosure of their claims, saying there was now a divergence between the situation in Scotland and England. (SAME AS THE LAW SOCIETY, ALEX SALMOND, KENNY MACASKILL WILL KICK AND SCREAM ABOUT FREEDOM OF INFORMATION APPLYING TO THE LAW SOCIETY OF SCOTLAND. YOU SELF REGULATORS ARE KILLING THE PROFESSIONS REPUTATION MORE THAN PRESSURE GROUPS BECAUSE NON COMPLIANCE INDICATES THERE IS A LOT TO HIDE).
"Whenever information of embarrassment or sensitivity is released, the government and the commons' default position seemed to be then to change the legislation," he added. (DEMOCRATICALLY ELECTED CRIMINALS).
"I've seen this, not only with the issue of MPs expenses, but also now the proposals to absolutely exempt all cabinet papers and absolutely exempt all communications with the Royal household from the English FOI act - that's simply not happening in Scotland."
I didn't realise the civil service was funded to protect the legal profession.Reading what you have written and the comments from the journalist I'd certainly agree those with too much time on their hands should go join the Law Society rather than be paid from the public purse to defend it.
ReplyDeleteLawyers are criminals, ruthless evil self protecting scum.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting report Mr Cherbi.I think its a cause worth supporting.Hope everyone joins your campaign and make these lawyers accountable for everything and not just foi!
ReplyDeleteTo the old Judge Gerald Price QC, 60, you have to face up to the fact that you are morally unfit to do your job. How can you sit in court and pass judgement on men who use prostitutes when you are the same, but like males.
ReplyDeleteGod knows what your wife and kids think of you. No doubt the chap who helped Haggarty and Ally McDeal will have been on the phone offering to represent you, if the fiscal does not drop any charges beforehand. We shall see?
only criminals hide behind blacked out papers as we have just found out with politicians
ReplyDeletethere must be plenty more criminals in the legal world the slcc are covering up for
Swinney should have said "we will throw them into the sea" because there's as much chance of that as getting lawyers to clean up their own !
ReplyDeleteIf the Law Society had its way protesters would be put against the wall and shot, just like the SS did in the occupied countries during the 2nd World War.
ReplyDeleteIt is time we had more John Swinney type MSP's to deal with this evil profession. He showed the justice committee what Douglas Mill was, an protector of crooked lawyers, unfit to be involved in complaints. It is time to kick the lawyers out of the Commission, look what is happening there with FOI requests, criminals like our sleazy greedy MP's. Shoot the bastards that is how I would solve this problem.
Judge Price grew so obsessed with the rent boy 35 years his junior that he let him sit next to him in COURT while he jailed criminals.
ReplyDeletePrice gave 25-year-old Christopher Williams unfettered access to three Crown Courts - an abuse of power that will horrify the authorities.
The authorities abuse power too, because they have no one to answer to except themselves. Lawyers are the gutter profession, low life's in powerful positions only answerable to themselves.
Lawyer hid lover’s heroin deals stash, THE SUN
ReplyDeleteBy JAMIE PYATT
Published: 02 Jun 2009
A WOMAN solicitor who helped her former lover hide cash from dealing drugs walked free from court yesterday.
But Rachel Taylor’s career was in ruins after a judge ordered her to do 200 hours unpaid work with the criminals she used to represent.
Taylor, 29, was the “lover, lawyer and financial adviser” of Pardeep Bains who made £500,000 from dealing heroin and cocaine, a court heard. They went out for four years until 2006.
He peddled drugs through street dealers in Bedfordshire from 2003 to 2007. In that year, Taylor, a solicitor in Luton, concealed some of the proceeds by creating a false profit-and-loss account to make it look like the money came from motor trading.
Her role came to light after the taxman investigated Bains’ claims he was a car dealer.
Taylor, from Kempston, Bedfordshire, was convicted of disguising criminal property. She got nine months’ jail suspended for 18 months.
Judge Jeffrey Burke QC told her at Luton Crown Court: “You were a hard-working professional — a solicitor in the criminal law. You knew the score. Why did you take the risk?
“Pardeep Bains had some kind of control over you. I suspect you could not say ‘No’ to him.”
Bains got 15 years for drug dealing at an earlier hearing.
Coal miners' solicitor struck off
ReplyDeleteBy Nina Goswami
BBC News
(Christ Peter, this lot would rob their mother's graves).
Andrew Nulty
Mr Nulty retired from law in 2007
A solicitor who once made £13m in a single year has been struck off for his misconduct in handling the compensation claims of sick miners.
Warrington lawyer Andrew Nulty, who made £13m in 2006 at law firm Avalon, has become the third lawyer to be struck off over the government scheme.
The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) found he had taken fees to which he was not entitled.
Mr Nulty, who could not be reached for comment, retired from law in 2007.
He has been ordered to pay £60,000 to cover a proportion of the legal costs of the watchdog Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), which brought the action against him.
Fellow lawyer Malcolm Trotter, who was at Avalon until 2004, was also handed a £15,000 fine at Thursday's hearing for his misconduct in handling claims.
At the conclusion of the three-day hearing, tribunal chairman Edward Richards said Mr Nulty, who was not present, was "a disgrace to the profession".
All I can say is that it's time somebody took the money off him, put it back in the pot and let these people who are very poorly have the money back
Miners from across the UK - including Doncaster, Durham, Nottingham, Newcastle, Pontefract and Rhondda Valley - have been represented by claim specialist law firms such as Avalon.
Former miner Frank Culshaw said Mr Nulty was "not living on the same planet" and did not know the hardship of the miners. (NO FRANK, HE DOES NOT CARE ABOUT YOUR HARDSHIP, LINE THE POCKETS ANY WAY YOU CAN, THAT'S LAWYERS FOR YOU).
"All I can say is that it's time somebody took the money off him, put it back in the pot and let these people who are very poorly have the money back," said Mr Culshaw.
More than 760,000 claims have been registered by coal miners and families who have lost relatives from chronic illnesses due to British Coal's lack of safety standards since the 1970s.
The government, which has the liabilities for British Coal's failing, set up schemes to compensate sick miners and families of those who had died.
According to The Lawyer Jim Beresford made £16.8m in a year
The schemes stated the government would pay lawyers for their work but did not clarify that solicitors could not charge clients additional amounts, leaving a loophole in the law. (YES AND LAWYERS WILL FIND IT TO THEIR ADVANTAGE, HUMAN MAGGOTS).
During the hearing, the tribunal heard that lawyers handling these claims should have received an average fee of £2,332 per case.
In 2006, the year Mr Nulty made £13m, some of his firm's turnover came from him dishonestly claiming a portion of the miners' compensation.
The SRA said it would continue to pursue lawyers it felt had acted wrongly in relation to the compensation scheme.
SRA chief executive Antony Townsend said: "Solicitors who compromise their clients' interests will face prosecution." (TELL SALMOND AND MACASKILL THAT. "WE OWE A GREAT DEBT TO THE LEGAL PROFESSION").
The loss of Mr Nulty's practising certificate follows the UK's highest-paid lawyer, Jim Beresford, and Douglas Smith, of Doncaster-based Beresford Solicitors, being struck off in December for dishonesty.
According to The Lawyer magazine, Mr Beresford made £16.8m in a year - most of which came from the miners' scheme - making him the richest solicitor in the UK. (LOCK THE BASTARD UP AND THROW THE KEY AWAY).
Sir fred, the scum dog millionaire
ReplyDeleteSir Fred has already taken a £2.7million lump sum from his pension pot, but now thinks cutting his annual pension to £350,000pa will ingratiate himself back into public life.
If he's waiting for a round of, 'for he's a jolly good fellow,' he'll be waiting a bloody long time.
The only cut that will satisfy most people, Sir Fred, is one around your neck. (LOVELY JUBBLY)
BMJ. 2002 March 2; 324(7336): 547.
ReplyDeletePMCID: PMC1122461
Copyright © 2002, BMJ
Dishonest doctors should not continue to practise
Nigel Dudley, consultant in elderly medicine
St James's University Hospital, Leeds LS9 7TF
Editor—Dishonesty and fraud are not acceptable behaviours in the NHS, and doctors should not be held to a lower standard than lawyers, who cannot be dishonest and continue to practise.1,2 “The overwhelming majority of patients and professionals would not dream of stealing from the NHS. (THEY WILL LIE IN MEDICAL RECORDS) But a small minority of patients and health service staff are doing just that. Every time they commit fraud patients' care suffers. Those who are exploiting the system are not only cheating the taxpayers, they are depriving patients of the care they need, said Alan Milburn MP; he is a fellow privy councillor of the lords who overturned the ruling of the General Medical Council that Dr K Manzur should be erased from the medical register.
The Manzur judgment has torpedoed the government's stance on fraud in the NHS, which drains millions away from frontline care each year. Privy councillors listening to appeals should perhaps be advised to take advice from their fellow privy councillors in the Cabinet as to what is or is not in the public interest.
The message sent out by the GMC was the correct one. Consultants hold a position of power and responsibility that demands trust when carrying out professional duties. They should expect that to abuse that position by lying, cheating, and committing fraud will result in erasure. (DOES NOT HAPPEN).
The GMC had marked the boundary of what was considered reasonable behaviour expected from a doctor. That is its responsibility as regulator of the profession. Contrary to what seems to be the belief of some politicians, journalists, and sections of the public, the GMC's professional conduct committee can make an unbiased decision that does not always favour the doctor. The external perception of the GMC is not helped by its good intentions being sabotaged by the Privy Council.
Would Mr Milburn really wish to condone senior NHS staff lying and taking money for personal gain, to the detriment of patient care, and then presenting financial accounts in such a way as to avoid being held to account for such behaviour? Fraud and dishonesty are unacceptable, and erasure was the correct course of action so as not to undermine “the integrity of doctors in the public's perception,” as their lordships remarked during the proceedings. Doctors should be held to the same standards as lawyers in their professional behaviour. (SCARY).
Lawyer's let off over £4000 Tube delay fraud 28/11/2008
ReplyDeleteA crooked solicitor who fraudulently claimed refunds for nearly £4,000 of delayed Tube journeys was spared jail yesterday.
Erien Dubash, 50, applied for her money back for 1,140 trips between 2004 and last year, and then used the refund vouchers to finance her travel.
Dubash was caught after an audit found she figured "prominently" in refund claims, Southwark crown court heard.
Dubash, of Stanmore, Middlesex, admitted fraud and was ordered to pay back the money and complete 200 hours of community service.
Thanks for your continued comments & emails on this article.
ReplyDeleteSuffice to say your comments and the evidence supports the need to make the legal profession compliant with Freedom of Information legislation.
Please spread the word !
hello peter just to say your doing a good job exposing
ReplyDeletethe legal system rob
well done peter keep up the good work rob
ReplyDelete