Overhaul of Isle of Man advocate training needed, review finds

The route to becoming an advocate on the Isle of Man needs significant reform, an external review has found.

Lord Edward Garnier KC has made a total of 32 recommendations to improve the island's legal services.

His review was commissioned after a report by Tynwald's Constitutional and Legal Affairs and Justice Committee.

That investigation saw the government and the Isle of Man Law Society put forward proposed reforms that Lord Garnier considered within his review.

Lord Garnier said he had found "a mixed picture" of "things to celebrate and things I believe need changing".

The recommendations included 12 on training and education.

They included the scrapping of a degree requirement to train as an advocate "so long as a robust system of legal education and training" was in place, he said.

The industry should not be "seen as equivalent to membership of a small exclusive club open only to those with the finances and professional connections" and it was "important that domestic talent is nurtured" in a small jurisdiction, he continued.

The review also includes several recommendations relating to the Manx bar examinations, which should "focus on the law of the Isle of Man" with a syllabus that went into "far more detail".

Lord Garnier also calls for an advocates' Code of Conduct to be published and an overhaul of Advocate Disciplinary Tribunals.

The hearings should be publicly available and tribunal's website "should publish information" about sittings, he said.

The report also recommends every law firm have an improved internal complaints systems.

Justice and Home Affairs Minister Jane Poole-Wilson said the report contained "constructive criticism to help improve the unique and independent legal system on the Isle of Man".

She said the department would publish "a detailed plan of action no later than the end of February 2024".

The report is due to be debated at the October sitting of Tynwald.

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