Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025

The Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025 updates the legislation relating to legal services regulation and complaints in Scotland. This includes the legislation that governs the SLCC's powers and functions (the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007)

Regulatory objectives and principles

The Act sets out:

• Regulatory objectives: What legal regulation should achieve and how it should operate. Regulatory authorities must act in line with the regulatory objectives.
• Professional principles: Standards for legal services providers.
• Legal definitions: Clarifies who qualifies as a legal services provider and what counts as legal services.

Regulators

The Act:

• Introduces two new categories of legal service regulators.
• Assigns existing regulators to these categories.
• Gives the Lord President powers to oversee regulator performance.
• Allows the independent Consumer Panel, and other bodies, to request reviews of regulator performance.
• Enables creation of new regulators.

Legal businesses and authorisation (entity regulation)

The Act:

• Defines regulator powers to authorise legal businesses.
• Updates the regime for Alternative Business Structures (ABS).
• Gives SLCC authority to handle regulatory complaints about authorised legal businesses (mirroring the existing ABS scheme).
• Allows SLCC to set different levies for individuals and businesses.

Complaints system improvements

The Act makes changes to how complaints are handled:

• SLCC can initiate complaints directly.
• Regulators can investigate certain complaints without referring to SLCC.
• Complaints can be categorised as service, conduct, or regulatory - or a mix.
• SLCC can close complaints if a fair settlement is offered.
• Firms may be required to improve systems or training.
• SLCC can act on incomplete information if firms fail to cooperate.
• Greater flexibility in some other aspects of complaints handling.
• Greater flexibility in when levies are charged.
• Appeals to Court of Session replaced with internal review committee.
• SLCC and regulators can share complaint information in the public interest (including about the practitioner, but not the complainer).
• SLCC can share information about practitioners with regulators if there is a concern.
• Regulators have more flexibility in dealing with conduct complaints.

Other legal services providers

The Act gives the SLCC new powers:

• SLCC can investigate services complaints against individuals or organisations in the wider legal services market (not otherwise regulated by the 2025 Act) offering legal services for payment.
• SLCC will maintain a voluntary register of these providers (may become mandatory for some providers).
• SLCC can charge registration and complaint-handling fees to these providers.

Guidance and standards

SLCC can issue guidance and set minimum standards for regulators on:

• Investigating conduct and regulatory complaints.
• How practitioners handle complaints.
• Trends that lead to complaints.
• Managing compensation funds like the Client Protection Fund.

SLCC may also request information from practitioners about complaints received.

Independent Consumer Panel

The Act:

• Expands the Independent Consumer Panel's role to give it powers to make recommendations to SLCC, regulators, and the Lord President.
• Says the SLCC must ensure the Panel is properly funded and resourced.

Other notable changes

The Act:

• Updates SLCC Board membership requirements.
• Allows third sector organisations to employ solicitors—improving access to justice.
• Criminalises unauthorised use of protected titles such as ‘lawyer’.
• Requires a formal review of the Act’s impact after ten years.

There are no upcoming changes

No changes are yet in effect

We are currently consulting on our draft Regulatory Statement outlines our understanding of the regulatory objectives and our initial thinking on how we will apply these to our work as we begin to implement the changes delivered by the 2025 Act. This consultation provides an opportunity to engage with stakeholders to help identify any new issues or likely areas of concern to inform our approach.