The Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal (SSDT) is an independent body which mainly deals with serious disciplinary issues that arise from time to time within the Scottish legal profession.

Complaints against solicitors in Scotland are channelled first through the Scottish Legal Services Complaints Commission who will refer conduct matters to the Law Society of Scotland, which carries out an initial investigation and can decide to prosecute more serious cases before the SSDT.

The most severe sanction available to the Tribunal is to strike an individual off the Roll of Solicitors, which effectively removes the individual’s right to practise as a solicitor in Scotland.

The Tribunal normally sits with 2 solicitor members and 2 lay members: solicitor members cannot also be members of the Council of the Law Society (governing body in Scotland); lay members are drawn from all backgrounds and walks of life. All members are appointed by the Lord President of the Court of Session – Scotland’s most senior judge.

The Tribunal is governed by a set of rules (Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal Procedure Rules 2005) which must be approved by the Lord President of the Court of Session. The Scottish Solicitors Discipline Tribunal Procedure Rules 2008 will apply to conduct occurring after 1 October 2008.

As a formal judicial body, the Tribunal is constituted under the provisions of Sections 50 – 54 and Schedule 4 of the Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 as amended.

The Tribunal deals with the following types of business:

• Complaints of professional misconduct
• Complaints of inadequate professional service
• Appeals by solicitors against findings of inadequate professional service of the Law Society
• Applications for restoration to the Roll of Solicitors
• Applications to enforce orders made by the Law Society

Once the 2008 Procedural Rules apply, the Tribunal will no longer deal with Complaints with regard to inadequate professional service, appeals in connection with inadequate professional service or applications for enforcement in connection with inadequate professional service.

The Tribunal will have an additional role in dealing with appeals in respect of findings made by the Law Society that a solicitor is guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct.

The full set of both versions of the rules can be viewed and downloaded elsewhere on this website.