Does Alan Shatter have anything to hide?

international | crime and justice | news report

Monday October 31, 2011 19:48

by PAW - People's Association Watchdog

Does MINISTER for JUSTICE Alan Shatter really want secrecy to surround the costs involved in Family Law Cases? Does he Have a reason to want Solicitors to have a wall of protection around them when desperate families could be getting swindled at the hands of a corrupt member of the Law Society?

MINISTER for Justice Alan Shatter is pushing for his Legal Services Regulation Bill to be passed into law, which could enable a cloak of secrecy to mask possible wrong doing by rogue elements of the Law Society by preventing adjudications on costs from being published in cases of family law.
At first glance the bill appears to be nothing more that a reinforcement of the right to privacy that a family should have during a probably traumatic time, however one cannot help but notice the inclusion of Section 82.3 which states:
“determinations of the legal costs adjudicator, containing the outcomes of disputes and the reasons for the decision, will be published, unless the dispute concerns proceedings heard otherwise than in public, or proceedings that, had they gone to a hearing would have been heard otherwise than in public.”
But doesn't this cover all family court proceedings which are heard in camera???
This writer has reservations with this bill being introduced into law, firstly, it does nothing to protect the family / client, it serves to raise the possibility of dispute more readily due to the secrecy and protection afforded the Solicitor, it enshrines the Law Society as a "Secret Society", it leaves distraught and traumatized wide open to be overcharged by any unscrupulous lawyers that may be more than willing to take advantage of a person at a what might be a very vulnerable time for them.
Minister for Justice ALAN SHATTER should appreciate that more than most as he worked for a very large law firm before becoming a minister, a law firm that specialized in FAMILY LAW, furthermore, that very same law firm has plenty of experience with disputes about costs with their clients having been subject to a number of said disputes.
So the Writer asks the question..... Does MINISTER for JUSTICE Alan Shatter really want secrecy to surround the costs involved in Family Law Cases? Does he Have a reason to want Solicitors to have a wall of protection around them when desperate families could be getting swindled at the hands of a corrupt member of the Law Society?

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Does Alan Shatter have anything to hide?