When the
Access to Justice Act 1999 came into force, government minister
Keith Vaz stated to the
House of Commons: In September 2003, Lord Chancellor
Lord Falconer, criticised the
Law Society, the governing body of solicitors, saying: • Require them to report on their handling of complaints about solicitors; • Investigate the handling of complaints; • Make recommendations; • Set targets; • Require the Law Society to submit a plan for the handling of complaints. If the Law Society failed to submit a plan or adequately handle complaints, the
Commissioner could impose a penalty of up to £1 million, or 1% of the Society's annual income if that is less. As a result, a penalty of £220,000 was levied. The
Commissioner subsequently recognised that progress was being made However, in April 2008, the
Commissioner reported that "Results show that despite some improvements in all target areas set, there are still failures ... to consistently apply their policies, processes and customer standards." On 3 June 2008, the Commissioner fined the Law Society £275,000 over the inadequacy of its complaints handling plan for the forthcoming year. ==Reform==