LAY members should be allowed to sit on the governing bodies of the Law Society and the Bar Association to increase public trust and confidence in them, the Hong Kong Institute of Company Secretaries has recommended.
Chief Executive John Brewer said the institute believed the two councils should take on non-members in the same way non-executives sit on listed company boards.
'The most effective way of understanding client care issues is to involve, and listen to, clients in the process,' he said.
The institute, with 2,800 members, submitted its views on the Consultation Paper on Legal Services to the Government last week.
In its submission, the institute said the legal profession's accountability would always remain in question unless it demonstrated a willingness to show transparency.
'It is not without parallel,' he said, citing the council of Hong Kong Society of Accountants as one of the professional governing bodies with lay members.