Solomon Islands lawyers may soon be subject to a profoundly new regime governing their practice and their professional bodies. This Article reports on the context and progress of the proposed reforms, as well as considering what might be its benefits and draw backs. As a preliminary matter, it is worth considering why such proposed reforms may be needed, particularly for such a small legal profession. As in many other countries, a principal reason appears to be a perception of significant regulatory failure. For instance, a recent Solomon Islands study stated that, from its consultation process with its profession, “it became clear that the issue of greatest immediate concern is the ineffectiveness of the current complaints and discipline handling system and its failure to provide prompt and certain outcomes”. The study report continued that this was regarded by “[m]any interviewees as the paramount issue and as one which required urgent and immediate action.
The failure of a regulatory system to deal with breaches of accepted standards of professional ethics and competency by lawyers has long been a catalyst for reform across the world.4 As the legal professions and the economies and stability of governments of small Pacific nations grow, there may be opportunity for and expectation that comprehensive reforms occur to address perceived problems.
Regulatory fixes for a range of systemic country problems are key objectives for international professional bodies. This Article considers the case of a tiny developing nation, Solomon Islands, at a point of adopting “hard law” legislative reform in the context of a post-conflict state in rapid governmental and economic transformation. To a large extent, localized concerns dominate. However, as the above quote citing views of Solomon Islands lawyers indicates, there appear to be common denominators when it comes to regulating a legal profession in any nation state standards of lawyer competency and ethical performance, and a functioning regulatory system, are chief concerns.
Francesca Bartlett