The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) is the board of the
Legal Ombudsman
The Legal Ombudsman is an ombudsman service that opened in October 2010. It is a free service that investigates complaints about lawyers in England and Wales. The Legal Ombudsman was set up as a result of the Legal Services Act 2007 and took over ...
, the free service that investigates complaints about
lawyers
A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solicitor, ...
in
England and Wales
England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...
.
The OLC was established by the
Legal Services Act 2007
The Legal Services Act 2007 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that seeks to liberalise and regulate the market for legal services in England and Wales, to encourage more competition and to provide a new route for consumer complai ...
. The
Legal Services Board
The Legal Services Board is an independent body responsible for overseeing the regulation of lawyers in England and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Ministry of Justice, created through the Legal Services Act of 2007 ...
, a
non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of n ...
of the
Ministry of Justice A Ministry of Justice is a common type of government department that serves as a justice ministry.
Lists of current ministries of justice
Named "Ministry"
* Ministry of Justice (Abkhazia)
* Ministry of Justice (Afghanistan)
* Ministry of Just ...
, appoints the OLC's members.
Objectives
The OLC ensures that they and the Legal Ombudsman promote the regulatory objectives set out in the Act, which are:
* protecting and promoting the public interest;
* supporting the constitutional principle of law;
* improving access to justice;
* protecting and promoting the interests of consumers;
* promoting competition in the provision of services;
* encouraging an independent, strong, diverse and effective legal profession;
* increasing public understanding of the citizen's legal rights and duties; and
* promoting and maintaining adherence to the professional principles
Members
The OLC has eight members, including Steve Green, the chair. It meets regularly and has created three committees to help it fulfil its role. The first is the Audit and Risk Committee, which is responsible for overseeing the Legal Ombudsman's risk management processes, governance and financial control framework. The second is the Remuneration and Nomination Committee, which is responsible for overseeing, among other things, the terms of employment of Legal Ombudsman staff. The third is the Category 1 Publications Committee, which oversees the approval process to publish details where the OLC has identified a serious risk to the public from a particular legal service provider.
Previous members
Previous OLC members included:
* Elizabeth France Chair from 2009 - 2014;
* Margaret Doyle;
* Mary Seneviratne;
* Brian Woods-Scawen;
References
{{Reflist
Law of the United Kingdom
Legal ethics