Legal Notices
Solicitors and their Clients
In common with lawyers in most parts of the world, solicitors in Scotland have always been expected, by the general public and their professional colleagues, to observe high standards of professional conduct. The standards are required in order to establish the essential relationship of trust between lawyer and client, between lawyer and court and other members of the legal profession.
All Scottish solicitors require to be members of the Law Society of Scotland and for many years specific practice rules have been promulgated by the Society as a self-regulatory organisation. Some of these rules have been included in Acts of Parliament and the Society's authority for promulgating additional practice rules comes from Parliament itself and the rules are subject to the consent of the Lord President of the Court of Session. These rules are binding upon solicitors. They stem from and have the force of statutory authority.
The observance of client confidentiality is a fundamental duty which applies not only to solicitors but also to their non-solicitor colleagues, and the obligation is not terminated by the passage of time. This principle is so important that it is recognised by the courts as being essential to the administration of justice and to the relationship of trust which must exist between solicitor and client. Only in special circumstances may a court require a solicitor to suspend the obligation of confidentiality.
It is important to note however that the duty of confidentiality is suspended under certain provisions of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 and the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 which require solicitors and their staff to report to the Serious Offences and Crime Agency any suspicion that a client is involved in using the proceeds of crime (including tax evasion). Further, the solicitor (or colleague) commits an offence if she/he advises a client that such a report is being made. Any solicitor who is implicated in money laundering activity commits both a criminal and a disciplinary offence.
For more information on the regulation of Scottish solicitors please visit the website of the Law Society of Scotland