“Much of the time, and particularly in criminal cases, lawyers are acting against the state and we believe it is essential they continue to stand in the space between citizen and government. We are, therefore, concerned by anything that points to interference by the state in how they are regulated and so impinges on the independence of the legal profession.”
“We have no reason to think that the Scottish Executive will not follow its stated aim of Scottish solutions to Scottish issues in its review, and I am sure nobody wants policy developments in England and Wales to influence those in Scotland. But Hadrian's Wall can be somewhat porous. Given the proposals could have an impact beyond England and Wales, we believe we should be on our guard, and decided to respond to the white paper.”
