Daily Diary

Tap tackle

Posted 29/10/2007 by The Daily Diary

Those nervous about the increasingly proactive attitude of the Law Society on everything from legal aid to education should be grateful they aren’t in the land of the Mounties.

The Law Society of Upper Canada, which regulates lawyers in Ontario, has gone to court to get its hands on wiretap recordings of a former Crown attorney whom the body hopes to slap with a misconduct charge over allegations of money laundering. It’s a far cry from the UK’s relatively cosy system of half-hearted slaps on wrists and twinkle-eyed warnings to try not to do it again (or at least to not get caught, if that’s not too much trouble).

Whether our own beloved Law Society ever decides to go in for wiretapping its members in order to stamp out controversy over, say, conflicts of interest (to pluck a random example out of thin air) remains to be been. Either way, the body might do well to remember that eavesdroppers rarely hear good of themselves.