Rules and policies

With the concurrence of the Lord President, the SSDT has redrafted its procedural rules. These come into force on 1 September 2024 and will apply to all Complaints, Appeals and Applications lodged on or after that date.

Rules

With the concurrence of the Lord President, the Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal has redrafted its procedural rules. The rules will come into force on 1st September 2024 and will apply to all complaints, appeals and applications lodged on or after that date. The 2008 rules will continue to apply to all cases lodged before 1st September 2024.

The Tribunal encourages all users and stakeholders to familiarise themselves with the rules, which are available on the Tribunal’s website. The rules have been designed to be user-friendly and have been drafted in plain English. The Tribunal hopes that these rules will assist parties and further the objectives of the Tribunal, which are to protect the public from harm and maintain public confidence in the legal profession, while preserving the principles of natural justice.

Taking account of the responses received in response to the 2019 consultation on the Tribunal’s procedural rules, and the feedback from the Lord President, the 2024 rules contain a number of new provisions. The Tribunal will apply an overriding objective (rule 4). There are rules on modern methods of service (rule 8). There are provisions about the ill health of respondents (rule 10). There are fresh rules about evidence, including convictions (rule 14), affidavits (rule 15), experts (rule 16) and vulnerable witnesses (rule 18). The Tribunal will have powers to make case management directions (rules 35 and 48). There are now timescales for the intimation of Tribunal decisions (rules 41, 53 and 59). There are new procedures for applications for restoration to the roll (part 4). There are also new forms for complaints, appeals and applications.

Expenses

Running alongside its new procedural rules, the Tribunal has also published guidance on expenses. That guidance is available on the Tribunal’s website and will, like the new rules, apply to all complaints and appeals made to the Tribunal on or after 1st September 2024. The expenses guidance notes that the award of expenses is a matter for the discretion of the Tribunal. The starting point is that expenses are more likely to be awarded to the successful party, but the Tribunal will have regard to all relevant circumstances. Where expenses are awarded, the party and party scale will be the starting point. Awards of expenses that do not specify a sum are likely to be based on the Act of Sederunt (Taxation of Judicial Expenses Rules) 2019 as amended. Awards of expenses may be restricted in the case of party litigants or non-solicitor representatives at the discretion of the Tribunal.

Health

The new health guidance, available on the Tribunal’s website, applies to all proceedings commenced after 1st September 2024. It should be read with the 2024 rules, in particular rules 10 and 16. The Tribunal recognises that some health issues can have a significant impact on an individual’s ability to participate in Tribunal proceedings. The Tribunal wants to encourage parties to raise relevant health issues at the earliest possible opportunity so that the Tribunal can make any appropriate arrangements. The guidance sets out the Tribunal’s expectations with regard to adjournments and medical reports.

Judgment publication policy

Publishing decisions is part of the Tribunal’s commitment to open justice. It helps to ensure that the Tribunal’s processes are transparent. The content of decisions informs and educates users of legal services, the public and the profession. Publication demonstrates that the Tribunal’s powers are being exercised proportionately and consistently, and that the Tribunal is accountable for its decisions. However, inclusion of older decisions on a public website may not always serve those aims. The Tribunal has therefore issued a judgment publication policy, which is available on its website.

The policy aims to provide a balanced approach to the availability of decisions on the Tribunal website. Decisions that are not available on the Tribunal website, and where the Tribunal has ordered publicity, will continue to be made available on request to the Tribunal Office. Decisions where the practitioner was struck off the roll, or where their registration was revoked, or where restoration of their name to the roll was prohibited, will remain on the website indefinitely. Decisions where a period of suspension was imposed will remain on the website for 10 years. All other decisions will remain on the website for five years.