Can the Law Society of Scotland continue in its dual ‘regulatory and representative’ role? I believe our ‘representative’ body has signed the death warrant for the independence of our profession, and in so doing rendered itself obsolete as a representative body. But it’s not too late for solicitors to defend the independence of our profession.

Govan Law Centre has applied to join the Glasgow Bar Association today. We believe every solicitor in Scotland should be consulted in a referendum and asked whether the Law Society of Scotland’s representative role should continue or not. We believe it's time for solicitors across Scotland to work together.

Every day, Scottish solicitors ask uncomfortable questions, represent unpopular clients, and take up controversial causes. A solitary solicitor will be the only thing that stands between an innocent citizen and a custodial sentence. In civil disputes, a solitary solicitor will be up against the power and might of corporations who will do all that they can to deprive a vulnerable citizen of restitution.

We represent our client’s best interests in the face of severe tabloid prejudice, political interference and intimidation. We do so, without fear or favour, because we belong to an independent profession which places justice at its core. A profession that defines itself by its integrity, its code of ethics, and its steadfast principles. Principles which have served the people of Scotland well over the last 500 years.

Yet the Scottish Government now wants to rip the heart from Scotland’s legal profession by ending the independence of its solicitors. Who would have thought that politicians whose sole purpose in life is to achieve independence, would attack the independence of others?

Section 92 of the Legal Services Bill would hand control of Scotland’s legal profession over to the Scottish Government lock, stock and barrel. It would entitle Scottish Ministers to appoint as many non-lawyers to the Council of the Law Society of Scotland as they saw fit. Separately, for regulatory matters, the Bill proposes a Council commitee comprising of 50% non-lawyers, with a non-legally qualified chairperson. Taken with the Bill’s ‘Tesco Law’ provisions, these proposals mark the death of solicitor independence in Scotland.

Who will defend us from these regressive, undemocratic and unconstitutional proposals? The Law Society of Scotland? Our Society has embraced these proposals through a combination of supine naivety, acceptance of civil service diktat, and in the case of our big four corporate firms through the pecuniary self-interest and power of a handful of partners. We must defend ourselves. It’s time to work together.

If you have not already done so please visit www.slas.co.uk where you can download a mandate so we can reverse the Law Society’s support of ‘Tesco law’. Please also visit www.rfpg.org to book a place at next Tuesday’s debate in Glasgow on the Legal Services (Scotland) Bill.