Chamber and committees

Thomas Mann submission of 1 September 2021

PE1851/E: Justice for the public in the legal system

I wish to make a submission to Petition 1851 because I recognise specific patterns of misbehaviour, which I believe are caused by the legal sector discrimination, is distorting the administration of justice. I have already made a submission to the Legal Services Review.

I have confirmation of my submission to the Independent Review of the Regulation of Legal Services but I am very surprised I was not called or asked to comment on this review, and have not heard of its decision. Can the petitions committee observe these facts? How is a system going to succeed if they do not listen and learn from citizens like me and others, who have been let down and suffered the injustice of our broken legal system, which, I believe, is NOT FIT FOR PURPOSE ?

I would also ask the committee to take note of my case where I was made bankrupt, yet I proved in court that I paid the money I was accused of not paying.

The committee should observe I was denied legal assistance. I believe that, rather than having people in court without legal representation (party litigants), the Scottish Government should ensure that people are represented by a solicitor, and given the same luxury as any citizens that commit crime are (legal advice). Solicitors should be appointed automatically as without representation, party litigants have no prospect of winning their cases even when it is blatantly obvious and a blind man could see a litigant would win their case’s IF Judged on their merits. (See Fair Outcome attachment)

I believe that summary Decrees should be outlawed. My case was an accountancy case BUT the pursuers were allowed to concentrate on less important issues. As a result, they were not challenged to explain what I considered to be their failures, to the court. In allowing this, I believe that the officers of the court effectively LET the pursuers solicitors and advocate dictate to the Judges.

I consider the court PROCEDURES to have blocked MY access to REMEDY. Therefore no access to justice.

I would also point the committee to the fact that as I was not able to get a solicitor, the general department in the Court of Session guided me through my appeal and instructed me to reclaim the last Interlocutor in the case, and stated that this had the effect of reclaiming all of the interlocutors!

On these instruction I went to the appeal, now knowing, because I had been furbished with documents from the pursuer’s solicitors that my reclaim was incompetent, I pre-empted what my appeal outcome would be! So I penned my own opinion of what Incompetence could be construed, I called it Incompetence and also a Fair Outcome scenario. I insisted I read this out in court to the judge before she summarised my case and made her opinion.

I would also recommend the committee go to the government and make the Pre-Action Protocol available in England & Wales mandatory in Scotland.

I have used this to help people remedy their case in weeks, and these people I have helped will never know the grief I and the people in this petition and those before them have gone through, and are still going through HELL because of this so called draconian legal system.

Please note I am aware of the Voluntary Pre Action Protocol in Scotland that can be ignored (and is often the case). This is NOT good enough. I am also aware that the Pre Action Protocol is now mandatory in Scotland for injury claims since November 2016.

This falls short to the citizens of Scotland who NEED the protocol right across the board to include the likes of Professional Negligence, Defamation, and more.

This is VERY important to give citizens their human rights and save them from mental health issues and ruination of their own immediate families well being!

Pre Action Protocol- Mandatory for Scotland, the same as England & Wales I would hope the committee are listening and create change in Scotland?