How to Complain

All complaints against legal practitioners should be sent to the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC). We act as a gateway or single point of contact and will advise you on what you need to do.

What will the SLCC be able to do?

All complaints come through the SLCC in the first instance. We deal with complaints about the service provided by legal practitioners. Complaints about conduct are passed to the Law Society of Scotland, The Faculty of Advocates or the Association for Commercial Attorneys who will investigate them as they have done in the past. Complaints about the conduct of Conveyancing & Executry Practitioners are passed to the Law Society of Scotland as they are responsible for their regulation under the Public Appointments and Public Bodies (Scotland) Act 2003. The SLCC also has the power to deal with complaints about the way the relevant professional organisation has handled your investigation.

These handling complaints were previously dealt with by the office of the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman which closed on 30 September 2008. The SLSO was replaced by the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission which opened for business on 1 October 2008.

What happened to cases being handled by the SLSO?

As part of the transition process, the powers of the Ombudsman transferred to the SLCC. We continue to investigate and sign-off reports for handling complaints arising from investigations being carried out, or to be carried out, by the relevant professional organisations.

The complaints process is explained in more detail in the Overview of the Complaint Process (PDF, 60k).

Making a complaint

To make a complaint, please download and complete the appropriate complaint form. We cannot accept your complaint unless it is submitted on a form with your signature. Your signature is important as it gives SLCC permission to request and receive information from the legal practitioner or professional body such as the Law Society of Scotland, The Faculty of Advocates or Association of Commercial Attorneys.

Complaint about conduct or service, click - Conduct and Service Complaint Form (145k, Microsoft Word format)

Complaint about handling, click - Handling Complaint Form (140k, Microsoft Word format)

Guidance on completing the complaint form, click - Complaint Form Guidance (130k, PDF)

Unacceptable actions

There are rare occasions when complainers pursue their complaints in a way that can impede their investigation or have significant impact on the SLCC. The Unacceptable Actions Policy sets out our approach to the relatively few occasions when we consider people's actions or behaviour to be unacceptable.

For more information please call us on 0131 528 5111, or email us at enquiries@scottishlegalcomplaints.org.uk