SLCC issues finalised sanctions guidance

Following a roundtable discussion on the application of disciplinary sanctions last month, the SLCC has now issued finalised guidance to the relevant professional organisations.

The guidance is based on benchmarking against best practice across a variety of other professions and has also been informed by input from the cross-discipline roundtable event.

The document has been produced with the aim of assisting legal professional bodies and discipline tribunals in the creation or review of their own guidance on imposing sanctions for Unprofessional Conduct or Professional Misconduct.

Alison Marron, SLCC’s Oversight Manager commented, “The adoption of best practice will assist in promoting consistency and transparency in the application of sanctions. It will also demonstrate to the public and the profession that they can have confidence that the professional organisations will uphold proper standards of behaviour and conduct and impose proportionate and fair sanctions.”

It is also hoped that the guide will be useful to regulatory organisations in other disciplines.

While there is legislative change possibly on the horizon, which might see changes around disciplinary sanctions, there is a need for guidance in the meantime around the sanctions that are currently available. The SLCC will also draw on some of the external input at the roundtable to inform its position on future legislative change in legal services.