For breaching Barrister's Code of Conduct 'acting in way that damages profession’s reputation’
Attorney General Baroness Scotland is to be investigated by the Bar Standards Board following complaints that she had ‘breached the Barrister’s Code of Conduct by acting in a way that damages the profession’s reputation’.
The formal inquiry launched by the barristers’ watchdog will put further pressure on Baroness Scotland to resign her position amid complaints that she has brought the profession into disrepute by employing an illegal immigrant as her housekeeper.
If the Attorney General is found guilty as charged, she could receive a further fine, face suspension or even be barred from practising law.
The complaint was made to the Bar Council by the Sunlight Centre For Open Politics.
Last month Baroness Scotland was fined £5,000 for employing Tonga born Loloahi Tapui as a housekeeper for her Chiswick home.
Despite calls for her resignation, the Baroness hung onto her job after Gordon Brown said she had only committed a “technical” breach of the legislation she had helped to push through Parliament.
She told Sky News, “I made an administrative, technical error for which I am bitterly, bitterly sorry. I will never fail to take a photocopy [of an employee's passport] again. I got it wrong. It was a technical breach and I have paid the penalty.”
October 12, 2009