A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching the philosophy, hypothesis and history of law, and giving expert legal opinions.
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to practise there as such. For example, in England and Wales a solicitor is admitted to practise under the provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974. With some exceptions, practising solicitors must possess a practising certificate. There are many more solicitors than barristers in England; they undertake the general aspects of giving legal advice and conducting legal proceedings.
A paralegal is the professional of legal science that performs procedures autonomously or semi autonomously, as part of a legal assistance system, and performs tasks that require understanding of the legislation for its proper execution. They also work in support or assist professionals related to the legal area of a consultative or judicial litigation nature. Its labor market is broad, including consultancies, companies that have legal departments or that perform legislation compliance activities such as: environmental, labor, controlled products, product registration, trademarks and patents, tax, bidding, among others. Legal offices and public bodies also have many paralegals in support activities although they do not yet use the correct name of the profession.
Legal ethics are principles of conduct that members of the legal profession are expected to observe in their practice. They are an outgrowth of the development of the legal profession itself.
The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is the independent public prosecution service for Scotland, and is a Ministerial Department of the Scottish Government. The department is headed by Her Majesty's Lord Advocate, who under the Scottish legal system is responsible for prosecution, along with the area procurators fiscal. In Scotland, virtually all prosecution of criminal offences is undertaken by the Crown. Private prosecutions are extremely rare.
The Law Society of Scotland is the professional governing body for Scottish solicitors. It promotes excellence among solicitors through the support and regulation of its members. It also promotes the interests of the public in relation to the profession. The Society helps to shape the law for the benefit of both the public and the profession.
The Ethical Standards in Public Life etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which established that the Scottish Ministers had to issue a code of conduct for councillors, and put in place mechanisms for dealing with councillors in contravention of the code. It was introduced by Scottish Executive minister Wendy Alexander.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman, legally the Commission for Local Administration in England and formerly known as the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO), is a service that investigates complaints from the public about councils and some other bodies providing public services in England. It also investigates complaints about registered adult social care providers. It is the last stage of the complaints process, for people who have given the council or provider opportunity to resolve the issue first. It is a free service. Similar duties are carried out by the Public Services Ombudsman for Wales, the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and the Northern Ireland Ombudsman. The current Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman is Michael King.
The Romanian Ombudsman is an independent institution of the Government of Romania, responsible for investigating and addressing complaints made by citizens against other government institutions.
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is the regulatory body for solicitors in England and Wales.
In England and Wales, the Legal Complaints Service was a body that formally investigated complaints about solicitors, which was superseded by the Legal Ombudsman in 2010.
The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) is the organisation that handles complaints about public services in Scotland. The Ombudsman service is independent of government and with a duty to act impartially.
The Law Society of British Columbia is the regulatory body for lawyers in British Columbia, Canada.
The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the legal profession and courts of England and Wales. The Act was the culmination of a series of reports and reforms that started with the Benson Commission in the 1970s, and significantly changed the way that the legal profession and court system worked.
An ombudsman, ombudsperson, ombud, ombuds, or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament but with a significant degree of independence. In some countries, an inspector general, citizen advocate or other official may have duties similar to those of a national ombudsman and may also be appointed by a legislature. Below the national level, an ombudsman may be appointed by a state, local, or municipal government. Unofficial ombudsmen may be appointed by, or even work for, a corporation such as a utility supplier, newspaper, NGO, or professional regulatory body.
A children's ombudsman, children's commissioner, youth commissioner, child advocate, children's commission, youth ombudsman or equivalent body is a public authority in various countries charged with the protection and promotion of the rights of children and young people, either in society at large, or in specific categories such as children in contact with the care system. The agencies usually have a substantial degree of independence from the executive, and generally operate as specialised ombudsman offices or national human rights institutions, dealing with individual complaints, intervening with other public authorities, conducting research, and – where their mandate permits them to engage in advocacy – generally promoting children's rights in public policy, law and practice. The first children's commissioner was established in Norway in 1981. The creation of such institutions has been promoted by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, and, from 1990 onwards, by the Council of Europe.
The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) is the board of the Legal Ombudsman, the free service that investigates complaints about lawyers in England and Wales.
The Legal Ombudsman is an ombudsman service that opened in October 2010. It is a free service that investigates complaints about lawyers in England and Wales. The Legal Ombudsman was set up as a result of the Legal Services Act 2007 and took over from the Legal Complaints Service and other legal complaint-handling bodies. The current Chief Ombudsman is Paul McFadden, who replaced Rebecca Marsh in January 2021, Marsh having left the post in the summer of 2020 after being in post since April 2019. The Legal Ombudsman is a member of the Ombudsman Association.
Walter Hugh Merricks, who qualified as an English solicitor, has held a number of senior appointments in legal and public institutions, the best known being his tenure as the inaugural Chief Ombudsman of the Financial Ombudsman Service. He is now Chair of IMPRESS, the Independent Monitor for the Press, and the law reform charity JUSTICE. He is a member of the Civil Aviation Authority's consumer panel. As proposed class representative, he has filed a £14 billion class action claim on behalf of British consumers against MasterCard Incorporated before the Competition Appeal Tribunal.
The Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC) is a non-departmental public body responsible dealing with unresolved complaints against legal practitioners operating in Scotland. It was established under the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 and came into operation on 1 October 2008, replacing the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman.
