Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

These amendments are similar in purpose to amendment No. 13 in that they confirm the Law Society's powers to generate internally complaints against solicitors. The amendments confirm the statutory role of the Registrar of Solicitors in generating internally a complaint of misconduct against a solicitor and extend the definition of misconduct for this purpose to include "any other conduct tending to bring the solicitors' profession into disrepute".

Certain functions have been delegated to the Registrar of Solicitors by the Council of the Law Society. These functions include the power to initiate an investigation under the solicitors' accounts regulations and the power, as a result of a complaint or otherwise, to attend with or without notice at a solicitor's practice to inspect documents. In carrying out these functions, matters may come to the attention of the registrar which merit the commencement of formal disciplinary proceedings.

Section 2(2) of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1994, as inserted by section 12 of the Solicitors (Amendment) Act 2002, was intended to give to the registrar the power to make complaints to the society against solicitors for breaches of the Solicitors Acts. However, section 2 is an interpretation provision and is definitional of the term "complaint". As such it does not confer the intended substantive power on the registrar. Amendment No. 15 rectifies this by providing that the registrar may make a complaint to the society alleging a contravention by a solicitor of any provision of the Solicitors Acts or alleging any conduct tending to bring the profession into disrepute. Amendment No. 11 makes a consequential amendment to the definition of a complaint. In effect, it strengthens legally the registrar's position relative to the Law Society on complaints of misconduct.