Office of Public Sector Information
(1) A person who is a regulated person in relation to an approved regulator has a duty to comply with the regulatory arrangements of the approved regulator as they apply to that person.
(2) A person is a regulated person in relation to an approved regulator if the person—
(a) is authorised by the approved regulator to carry on an activity which is a reserved legal activity, or
(b) is not so authorised, but is a manager or employee of a person who is so authorised.
(3) This section applies in relation to the Board in its capacity as a licensing authority and its licensing rules, as it applies in relation to an approved regulator and its regulatory arrangements.
Schedule 16 contains amendments of—
(a) the Solicitors Act 1974 (c. 47),
(b) Part 1 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 (c. 61) (recognised bodies), and
(c) section 89 of, and Schedule 14 to, the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41) (foreign lawyers: partnerships and recognised bodies).
(1) If the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (“the Tribunal”) makes an alteration of its rules under section 46(9)(b) of the Solicitors Act 1974 (“the tribunal rules”), the alteration does not have effect unless it is approved for the purposes of this Act.
(2) An alteration is approved for the purposes of this Act if—
(a) it is approved by the Board under Part 3 of Schedule 4 (alteration of approved regulator’s regulatory arrangements),
(b) it is an exempt alteration, or
(c) it is an alteration made in compliance with a direction under section 32 (given by virtue of section 179).
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2)(a), paragraphs 20 to 27 of Schedule 4 (procedure for approval of alterations of regulatory arrangements) apply in relation to an application by the Tribunal for approval of an alteration or alterations of the tribunal rules as they apply in relation to an application by an approved regulator for approval of an alteration or alterations of its regulatory arrangements, but as if—
(a) paragraph 23 of that Schedule applied in relation to the Law Society as well as the Tribunal,
(b) in paragraph 25(3) (grounds for refusal of application), paragraphs (d) and (e) were omitted, and
(c) in paragraph 27(3) the reference to section 32 were a reference to that section as applied (with modifications) by section 179.
(4) For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), an exempt alteration is an alteration which the Board has directed is to be treated as exempt for the purposes of this section.
(5) A direction under subsection (4) may be specific or general, and must be published by the Board.
(6) In this section references to an “alteration” of the tribunal rules include the making of such rules and the modification of such rules.
Sections 32 to 34 and Schedule 7 (Board’s powers to give directions) apply in relation to the Tribunal as they apply in relation to an approved regulator, but as if—
(a) in section 32(1)—
(i) paragraphs (a) and (c) were omitted, and
(ii) in paragraph (b) after “failed” there were inserted “to perform any of its functions to an adequate standard (or at all) or”,
(b) in subsection (4)(b) of that section for “regulatory arrangements” there were substituted “rules under section 46(9)(b) of the Solicitors Act 1974”,
(c) section 34(3) were omitted, and
(d) paragraphs 2 and 10 of Schedule 7 applied in relation to the Law Society, as well as the Tribunal, where it is proposed to give the Tribunal a direction under section 32.
Sections 69 and 70 (modification of functions of approved regulators) apply in relation to the Tribunal as they apply in relation to an approved regulator, but as if—
(a) for section 69(3) (purpose for which modifying order may be made) there were substituted—
“(3) The Board may make a recommendation under this section only with a view to an order being made which enables the Tribunal to carry out its role more effectively or efficiently.”, and
(b) subsections (4), (5) and (7) of that section were omitted.
(1) It is an offence for a person who is not a barrister—
(a) wilfully to pretend to be a barrister, or
(b) with the intention of implying falsely that that person is a barrister to take or use any name, title or description.
(2) A person who is guilty of an offence under subsection (1) is liable—
(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum (or both), and
(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years or a fine (or both).
(3) In relation to an offence under subsection (1) committed before the commencement of section 154(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 (c. 44), the reference in subsection (2)(a) to 12 months is to be read as a reference to 6 months.
Schedule 17 contains amendments relating to the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, licensed conveyancers and bodies recognised under section 32 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 (c. 61).
(1) For the purposes of any enactment or instrument (including an enactment passed or instrument made after the passing of this Act) “commissioner for oaths” includes an authorised person in relation to the administration of oaths (“a relevant authorised person”).
(2) A relevant authorised person has the right to use the title “Commissioner for Oaths”.
(3) A relevant authorised person may not carry on the administration of oaths in any proceedings in which that person represents any of the parties or is interested.
(4) A relevant authorised person before whom an oath or affidavit is taken or made must state in the jurat or attestation at which place and on what date the oath or affidavit is taken or made.
(5) A document containing such a statement and purporting to be sealed or signed by a relevant authorised person must be admitted in evidence without proof of the seal or signature, and without proof that that person is a relevant authorised person.
(6) The Lord Chancellor may by order prescribe the fees to be charged by relevant authorised persons in respect of the administration of an oath or the taking of an affidavit.
(7) The Lord Chancellor may make an order under subsection (6) only—
(a) after consultation with the Board, and
(b) with the consent of the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls.
(8) In this section “affidavit” has the same meaning as in the Commissioners for Oaths Act 1889 (c. 10).
(1) The Trade Marks Act 1994 (c. 26) is amended as follows.
(2) In section 82 (recognition of agents) after “rules” insert “and subject to the Legal Services Act 2007”.
(3) For section 83 (the register of trade mark agents) substitute—
(1) There is to continue to be a register of persons who act as agent for others for the purpose of applying for or obtaining the registration of trade marks.
(2) In this Act a registered trade mark attorney means an individual whose name is entered on the register kept under this section.
(3) The register is to be kept by the Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys.
(4) The Secretary of State may, by order, amend subsection (3) so as to require the register to be kept by the person specified in the order.
(5) Before making an order under subsection (4), the Secretary of State must consult the Legal Services Board.
(6) An order under this section must be made by statutory instrument.
(7) An order under this section may not be made unless a draft of it has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.
(1) The person who keeps the register under section 83 may make regulations which regulate—
(a) the keeping of the register and the registration of persons;
(b) the carrying on of trade mark agency work by registered persons.
(2) Those regulations may, amongst other things, make—
(a) provision as to the educational and training qualifications, and other requirements, which must be satisfied before an individual may be registered or for an individual to remain registered;
(b) provision as to the requirements which must be met by a body (corporate or unincorporate) before it may be registered or for it to remain registered, including provision as to the management and control of the body;
(c) provision as to the educational, training or other requirements to be met by regulated persons;
(d) provision regulating the practice, conduct and discipline of registered persons or regulated persons;
(e) provision authorising in such cases as may be specified in the regulations the erasure from the register of the name of any person registered in it, or the suspension of a person’s registration;
(f) provision requiring the payment of such fees as may be specified in or determined in accordance with the regulations;
(g) provision about the provision to be made by registered persons in respect of complaints made against them;
(h) provision about the keeping of records and accounts by registered persons or regulated persons;
(i) provision for reviews of or appeals against decisions made under the regulations;
(j) provision as to the indemnification of registered persons or regulated persons against losses arising from claims in respect of civil liability incurred by them.
(3) Regulations under this section may make different provision for different purposes.
(4) Regulations under this section which are not regulatory arrangements within the meaning of the Legal Services Act 2007 are to be treated as such arrangements for the purposes of that Act.
(5) Before the appointed day, regulations under this section may be made only with the approval of the Secretary of State.
(6) The powers conferred to make regulations under this section are not to be taken to prejudice—
(a) any other power which the person who keeps the register may have to make rules or regulations (however they may be described and whether they are made under an enactment or otherwise);
(b) any rules or regulations made by that person under any such power.
(7) In this section—
“appointed day” means the day appointed for the coming into force of paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Legal Services Act 2007;
“manager”, in relation to a body, has the same meaning as in the Legal Services Act 2007 (see section 207);
“registered person” means—
a registered trade mark attorney, or
a body (corporate or unincorporate) registered in the register kept under section 83;
“regulated person” means a person who is not a registered person but is a manager or employee of a body which is a registered person;
“trade mark agency work” means work done in the course of carrying on the business of acting as agent for others for the purpose of—
applying for or obtaining the registration of trade marks in the United Kingdom, or
conducting proceedings before the Comptroller relating to applications for or otherwise in connection with the registration of trade marks.”
(4) In section 84 (unregistered persons not to be described as registered trade mark agents)—
(a) in subsection (2)—
(i) after “partnership” (in the first place) insert “or other unincorporated body”, and
(ii) for “all the partners” to the end substitute “the partnership or other body is registered in the register kept under section 83.”, and
(b) in subsection (3) for “all the directors” to the end substitute “the body corporate is registered in the register kept under section 83.”
(5) Omit section 85 (power to prescribe conditions etc for mixed partnerships and bodies corporate).
(6) In section 87 (privilege for communications with registered trade mark attorneys), in subsection (3)(c) at the beginning insert “any other unincorporated body or”.
(1) The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (c. 48) is amended as follows.
(2) In section 274 (persons permitted to carry on business of a patent agent) in subsection (1) after “this Part” insert “and to the Legal Services Act 2007”.
(3) For section 275 (the register of patent agents) substitute—
(1) There is to continue to be a register of persons who act as agent for others for the purpose of applying for or obtaining patents.
(2) In this Part a registered patent attorney means an individual whose name is entered on the register kept under this section.
(3) The register is to be kept by the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.
(4) The Secretary of State may, by order, amend subsection (3) so as to require the register to be kept by the person specified in the order.
(5) Before making an order under subsection (4), the Secretary of State must consult the Legal Services Board.
(6) An order under this section must be made by statutory instrument.
(7) An order under this section may not be made unless a draft of it has been laid before, and approved by a resolution of, each House of Parliament.
(1) The person who keeps the register under section 275 may make regulations which regulate—
(a) the keeping of the register and the registration of persons;
(b) the carrying on of patent attorney work by registered persons.
(2) Those regulations may, amongst other things, make—
(a) provision as to the educational and training qualifications, and other requirements, which must be satisfied before an individual may be registered or for an individual to remain registered;
(b) provision as to the requirements which must be met by a body (corporate or unincorporate) before it may be registered, or for it to remain registered, including provision as to the management and control of the body;
(c) provision as to the educational, training and other requirements to be met by regulated persons;
(d) provision regulating the practice, conduct and discipline of registered persons or regulated persons;
(e) provision authorising in such cases as may be specified in the regulations the erasure from the register of the name of any person registered in it, or the suspension of a person’s registration;
(f) provision requiring the payment of such fees as may be specified in or determined in accordance with the regulations;
(g) provision about the provision to be made by registered persons in respect of complaints made against them;
(h) provision about the keeping by registered persons or regulated persons of records and accounts;
(i) provision for reviews of or appeals against decisions made under the regulations;
(j) provision as to the indemnification of registered persons or regulated persons against losses arising from claims in respect of civil liability incurred by them.
(3) Regulations under this section may make different provision for different purposes.
(4) Regulations under this section which are not regulatory arrangements within the meaning of the Legal Services Act 2007 are to be treated as such arrangements for the purposes of that Act.
(5) Before the appointed day, regulations under this section may be made only with the approval of the Secretary of State.
(6) The powers conferred to make regulations under this section are not to be taken to prejudice—
(a) any other power which the person who keeps the register may have to make rules or regulations (however they may be described and whether they are made under an enactment or otherwise);
(b) any rules or regulations made by that person under any such power.
(7) In this section—
“appointed day” means the day appointed for the coming into force of paragraph 1 of Schedule 4 to the Legal Services Act 2007;
“manager”, in relation to a body, has the same meaning as in the Legal Services Act 2007 (see section 207);
“patent attorney work” means work done in the course of carrying on the business of acting as agent for others for the purpose of—
applying for or obtaining patents, in the United Kingdom or elsewhere, or
conducting proceedings before the comptroller relating to applications for, or otherwise in connection with, patents;
“registered person” means—
a registered patent attorney, or
a body (corporate or unincorporate) registered in the register kept under section 275;
“regulated person” means a person who is not a registered person but is a manager or employee of a body which is a registered person.”
(4) In section 276 (persons entitled to describe themselves as patent attorneys)—
(a) in subsection (2)—
(i) after “partnership” (in the first place) insert “or other unincorporated body”, and
(ii) for “all the partners” to the end substitute “the partnership or other body is registered in the register kept under section 275”, and
(b) in subsection (3) for “all the directors” to the end substitute “the body corporate is registered in the register kept under section 275.”
(5) Omit section 279 (power to prescribe conditions etc for mixed partnerships and bodies corporate).
(6) In section 280 (privilege for communications with patent agents), in subsection (3), at the end of paragraph (b) insert—
“(ba) an unincorporated body (other than a partnership) entitled to describe itself as a patent attorney, or”.
(1) Schedule 18 makes provision relating to Part 5 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 (c. 33) (immigration advisers and immigration service providers).
(2) In that Schedule—
(a) Part 1 makes provision for approved regulators to become qualifying regulators for the purposes of Part 5 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999,
(b) Part 2 contains amendments of that Act (which amongst other things enable persons authorised by qualifying regulators to provide immigration advice and immigration services in England and Wales), and
(c) Part 3 makes provision for certain persons to be treated, during a transitional period, as authorised by qualifying regulators to provide such advice and services.
Schedule 19 contains amendments of Part 2 of the Compensation Act 2006 (c. 29) (claims management services).
(1) This section applies to a person who—
(a) exercises before any court a right of audience, or
(b) conducts litigation in relation to proceedings in any court,
by virtue of being an authorised person in relation to the activity in question.
(2) A person to whom this section applies has a duty to the court in question to act with independence in the interests of justice.
(3) That duty, and the duty to comply with relevant conduct rules imposed on the person by section 176(1), override any obligations which the person may have (otherwise than under the criminal law) if they are inconsistent with them.
(4) “Relevant conduct rules” are the conduct rules of the relevant authorising body which relate to the exercise of a right of audience or the conduct of litigation.
(5) The relevant authorising body is—
(a) the approved regulator by which the person is authorised to exercise the right of audience or conduct the litigation, or
(b) where the person is authorised to exercise the right of audience or conduct the litigation by the Board in its capacity as a licensing authority, the Board.
(1) This section applies where an authorised person in relation to the exercise of a right of audience is employed as a Crown Prosecutor or in any other description of employment.
(2) Qualification regulations or conduct rules of the approved regulator by whom the person is authorised to carry on that activity which relate to the right of audience do not have effect in relation to the person if—
(a) they—
(i) limit the courts before which, or proceedings in which, that activity may be carried on by persons who are employed, or
(ii) limit the circumstances in which that activity may be carried on by persons who are employed by requiring such persons to be accompanied by some other person when carrying on that activity, and
(b) they do not impose the same limitation on persons who are authorised persons in relation to the activity in question but are not employed.
(1) Subsection (2) applies where an individual (“P”) who is not a barrister or solicitor—
(a) provides advocacy services as an authorised person in relation to the exercise of rights of audience,
(b) provides litigation services as an authorised person in relation to the conduct of litigation,
(c) provides conveyancing services as an authorised person in relation to reserved instrument activities, or
(d) provides probate services as an authorised person in relation to probate activities.
(2) Any communication, document, material or information relating to the provision of the services in question is privileged from disclosure in like manner as if P had at all material times been acting as P’s client’s solicitor.
(3) Subsection (4) applies where—
(a) a licensed body provides services to a client, and
(b) the individual (“E”) through whom the body provides those services—
(i) is a relevant lawyer, or
(ii) acts at the direction and under the supervision of a relevant lawyer (“the supervisor”).
(4) Any communication, document, material or information relating to the provision of the services in question is privileged from disclosure only if, and to the extent that, it would have been privileged from disclosure if—
(a) the services had been provided by E or, if E is not a relevant lawyer, by the supervisor, and
(b) at all material times the client had been the client of E or, if E is not a relevant lawyer, of the supervisor.
(5) “Relevant lawyer” means an individual who is—
(a) a solicitor;
(b) a barrister;
(c) a solicitor in Scotland;
(d) an advocate in Scotland;
(e) a solicitor of the Court of Judicature of Northern Ireland;
(f) a member of the Bar of Northern Ireland;
(g) a registered foreign lawyer (within the meaning of section 89 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41));
(h) an individual not within paragraphs (a) to (g) who is an authorised person in relation to an activity which is a reserved legal activity; or
(i) a European lawyer (within the meaning of the European Communities (Services of Lawyers) Order 1978 (S.I. 1978/1910)).
(6) In this section—
“advocacy services” means any services which it would be reasonable to expect a person who is exercising, or contemplating exercising, a right of audience in relation to any proceedings, or contemplated proceedings, to provide;
“litigation services” means any services which it would be reasonable to expect a person who is exercising, or contemplating exercising, a right to conduct litigation in relation to any proceedings, or contemplated proceedings, to provide;
“conveyancing services” means the preparation of transfers, conveyances, contracts and other documents in connection with, and other services ancillary to, the disposition or acquisition of estates or interests in land;
“probate services” means the preparation of any papers on which to found or oppose a grant of probate or a grant of letters of administration and the administration of the estate of a deceased person.
(7) This section is without prejudice to any other enactment or rule of law by virtue of which a communication, a document, material or information is privileged from disclosure.
After section 60 of the County Courts Act 1984 (c. 28) insert—
(1) An employee of a housing management body who is authorised by that body for the purposes of this section has—
(a) a right of audience in relation to any proceedings to which this section applies, and
(b) a right to conduct litigation in relation to any such proceedings.
(2) This section applies to relevant housing proceedings in a county court before a district judge which are brought—
(a) in the name of a local housing authority, and
(b) by the housing management body in the exercise of functions of that local housing authority delegated to that body under a housing management agreement.
(3) “Relevant housing proceedings” are—
(a) proceedings under section 82A of the Housing Act 1985 (demotion because of anti-social behaviour);
(b) proceedings for possession of a dwelling-house subject to a secure tenancy, where possession is sought on ground 2 in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to that Act (anti-social behaviour);
(c) proceedings for possession of a dwelling-house subject to a demoted tenancy;
(d) proceedings for a suspension order under section 121A of the Housing Act 1985 (suspension of right to buy);
(e) proceedings under section 153A, 153B or 153D of the Housing Act 1996 (injunctions against anti-social behaviour);
(f) proceedings for the attachment of a power of arrest to an injunction by virtue of section 91(2) of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 or section 27(2) of the Police and Justice Act 2006 (proceedings under section 222 of the Local Government Act 1972: power of arrest attached to injunction);
(g) at a hearing at which a decision is made in relation to proceedings within paragraphs (a) to (f), proceedings for permission to appeal against that decision;
(h) such other proceedings as the Lord Chancellor may prescribe by order.
Legal Services Act 2007