David Lavery

Mr Lavery lost his post as human rights commissioner last week following an independent investigation, pursuant to the Code of Governance of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, into his provision of a character reference for his pedophile cousin, William Llloyd-Lavery.

Mr Lloyd-Lavery was convicted in April of historical sexual offences committed against female pupils at schools where he was employed as a teacher between 1975 and 1979. Mr Lavery provided his cousin with a character reference in which he referred to him as a Christian man and “a person of sound judgement and good character”.

The Belfast Telegraph reported in May that some solicitors had said they were disgusted that a leader of their professional body had given such a reference. Mr Lavery apologised and admitted to a “serious error of judgement.” The Law Society had opened its own internal process, but now considers the matter closed and stated last week that it would make no further comment.

However, the pressure on Mr Lavery continues to grow as the call for an SGM comes after senior member of the council of the Law Society, Phillip Armstrong, resigned last week stating that he found himself “increasingly uncomfortable with the current and future strategies of the society, and separately with certain decisions with which I cannot in all conscience agree or wish to be associated”.

One solicitor, who does not wish to be named, told the Belfast Telegraph that there is a loss of confidence in the leadership of the society and that they have not met a solicitor yet who thinks Mr Lavery should still be in the job. However, many are reluctant to openly criticise the leadership.

Solicitor Jonathan McKeown of JMK Solicitors, however, is one of the members who called for an SGM. He told BBC’s Good Morning Ulster programme that the issue has “spiralled away” from Mr Lavery and become one of public trust in the Law Society. 

Mr McKeown said: “The things that make the Law Society actually quite a good regulator is their ability to keep things in house and to keep them secret because they’re dealing with sensitive information.

“The problem with this is this particular issue strays into their public functions and whether or not the public can have confidence and if the membership don’t even know how the society came up with the decision, the membership can’t reassure the public either.”

The SGM will take place in the next four weeks and members are expected to debate and vote on a range of motions, including calling for Mr Lavery to resign.