Law Society rules means he could continue working
A charity law specialist continued to work as a lawyer despite being convicted of child sex offences.
Alan Eccles, from Bearsden, had his professional credentials renewed after he was sentenced for a range of offences last June.
Law Society of Scotland policies mean a sentence of less than a year in prison does not trigger a suspension - and he has now had his application to renew his license to operate granted, giving him the right to continue working as a lawyer.
The former lawyer for the Scottish Youth Parliament, was spared jail and sentenced to 300 hours of community service after admitting to engaging in online conversations about the sexual abuse of children.
Eccles admitted to engaging in grossly offensive, indecent, obscene or menacing conversations about the sexual abuse of children.
He also shared indecent photos of kids and an intimate pic of a woman from an address in Giffnock, near Glasgow, between October 22 and November 14, 2023.
Specialising in charity law, Eccles has written extensively on setting up trusts as well as Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisations (SCIOs) and has been an adviser to a number of charities.
The Law Society of Scotland’s Executive Director of Regulation, Rachel Wood, said: “Where we have reason to believe that one of our members has not met the high professional standards expected of them we will take action.
“By law, we have powers to suspend a solicitor from practice in limited circumstances, which include where a solicitor has been convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 12 months or more. Other disciplinary measures are available where that threshold is not met but a solicitor is still able to practice pending the conclusion and outcome of the disciplinary process.
“Due to our successful lobbying...we will have enhanced powers to suspend solicitors in the future.
“If the SLCC deems a complaint to be eligible, cases concerning the conduct of a solicitor are passed to us to investigate and we can make a finding of unsatisfactory professional conduct or if appropriate, we will prosecute the solicitor before the independent Scottish Solicitors’ Discipline Tribunal (SSDT).
“The SSDT decides whether they are guilty of professional misconduct and on any sanction. It can censure, fine or restrict solicitors’ practice. In the most serious cases the SSDT can strike a solicitor off the roll.”
