The Legal Profession & Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 establishes the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission.
Section 4(1) of this Act states: Where a complaint … is not made timeously, the Commission is not to take the preliminary steps … in relation to it, and is not to take any further action under any other provision of this Part (except this section), in relation to it.
Section 4(3) states: For the purposes of subsection (1), a complaint is not made timeously where—
(a) rules made under section 32(1) fix time limits for the making of complaints;
(b) the complaint is made after the expiry of the time limit applicable to it;
(c) the Commission does not extend the time limit in accordance with the rules.
Section 32 (1) states: The Commission must make rules as to its practice and procedure and, as soon as practicable after making or varying those rules, publish them and make them available to the public in a form which is readily accessible.
The Rules of the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission 2009 state in 4(6) :
A complaint will not be accepted (unless the Commission considers that the circumstances are exceptional) if it is made more than 1 year after the professional misconduct, unsatisfactory professional conduct or conviction suggested by it appears to have occurred, or the professional services suggested by it to have been inadequate appear to have been provided.
One year is far too short a time in which to complain about a solicitor for two main reasons :
(a) A person could be very dependent on a solicitor and it might affect their life if they complain about a solicitor soon after the solicitor has represented them.
(b) The evidence required to justify the complaint may not become available for several years.
A particular example of the above is a detained mental health patient whose only method of gaining his/her liberty is through their solicitor representing them at mental health tribunals. They may obtain the tribunal transcripts some time later which gives them the evidence they require to make the complaint.
The Nursing & Midwifery Council, for example, does not have a time-limit. It states that concerns should be raised promptly since it is much less straightforward to investigate incidents that took place a number of years ago. They also state that in some very serious criminal cases it is necessary to act quickly to stop the nurse or midwife from working until the criminal case is finished.
Several recent news stories e.g. Jimmy Savile, the Hillsborough disaster, abuse in the church show that it can be decades before the truth is revealed.