United Kingdom Parliament |
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| Long title | An Act to make provision for the establishment of the Legal Services Board and in respect of its functions; to make provision for, and in connection with, the regulation of persons who carry on certain legal activities; to make provision for the establishment of the Office for Legal Complaints and for a scheme to consider and determine legal complaints; to make provision about claims management services and about immigration advice and immigration services; to make provision in respect of legal representation provided free of charge; to make provision about the application of the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007; to make provision about the Scottish legal services ombudsman; and for connected purposes. |
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| Statute book chapter | 2007 c. 29 |
| Introduced by | Lord Falconer Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, 23 November 2006 |
| Territorial extent | England and Wales[2] |
| Dates | |
| Royal Assent | 30 October 2007 |
| Commencement | 7 March 2008[3] |
| Repeal date | — |
| Other legislation | |
| Amendments | — |
| Related legislation | — |
| Repealing legislation | — |
| Status: Not fully in force | |
| History of passage through Parliament | |
| Text of statute as originally enacted | |
| Revised text of statute as amended | |
The Legal Services Act 2007 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that seeks to liberalise and regulate the market for legal services in England and Wales, to encourage more competition and to provide a new route for consumer complaints.[4] It also makes provisions about the Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007.
Section 1 of the Act defines eight regulatory objectives:[5]
The professional principles are:[5]
Sections 2 to 7 and Schedule 1 create the Legal Services Board with a duty to promote the regulatory objectives. David Edmonds was appointed the first chair of the Board on 23 April 2008 and nine members were appointed on 17 July. The members took up post on 1 September 2008 and the Board became fully operational on 1 January 2010.[6][7] The Board is to have a Consumer Panel to represent consumers (ss. 8-11).[5] As of July 2008[update] no date has been fixed for the coming into force of the provisions about the Consumer Panel.
Section 12 and Schedule 2 define six reserved legal activities:[5]
This list can be amended by an Order in Council of the Lord Chancellor (ss. 24-26).[5]
Section 12 then goes on to define, for the purposes of the Act, a legal activity as either a reserved legal activity or as the provision of legal advice, assistance or representation in connection with the application of the law or with any form of resolution of legal disputes. Legal activity does not include acting as a mediator or arbitrator.[5]
Only an authorised person or an exempt person can carry out a reserved legal activity (s. 14). It is a crime to carry out a reserved activity otherwise though it is a defence that the person "did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected to know" that they were committing an offence. It is also an offence to pretend to be authorised (s. 17) An offender can be sentenced on summary conviction to up to six months' imprisonment and a fine of up to £5,000. If convicted on indictment in the Crown Court and offender can be sentenced to up to two years' imprisonment and an unlimited fine. An unauthorised person who purports to exercise a right of audience also commits a contempt of court for which he can be punished.[5]
By virtue of paragraph 2(b) of the The Legal Services Act 2007 (Commencement No. 6, Transitory, Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2009 (SI 3250/2009) s 12 and Schedule 2 are in force from January 1, 2010.
Authorised persons are either (s. 18):[5]
Relevant approved regulators are (s. 20/ Sch. 4, Pt. 1):[5]
| Regulator | Rights of audience | Conduct of litigation | Reserved instruments | Probate activities | Notorial activities | Administration of oaths |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Law Society | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes |
| Bar Council | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes |
| Master of the Faculties | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes |
| Institute of Legal Executives | yes | no | no | no | no | yes |
| Council for Licensed Conveyancers | no | no | yes | no | no | yes |
| Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes |
| Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys | yes | yes | yes | no | no | yes |
| Association of Law Costs Draftsmen | yes | yes | no | no | no | yes |
The Legal Services Board also has the power to recommend to the Lord Chancellor that he approve further approved regulators (s. 20/ Sch. 4, Pt. 2). The regulatory arrangements of all the approved regulators defined in Sch. 4, Pt. 1 remain in place at the coming into force of the Act but thereafter, all changes to internal professional regulatory arrangements must be approved by the Board (s. 20/ Sch. 3, Pt. 3).[5]
As of 2008[update], no date is fixed for the coming into force of these provisions but, as a transitionary arrangement, authorised person is to be interpreted as a person who will be authorised when these sections to come into force.[8]
Approved regulators have a duty to promote the regulatory objectives (s. 28). If they fail to do so, or if they fail in some other way to comply with the Act, the Legal Services Board can:[5]
The Board has a duty to regulate practising fees (s. 51), resolve regulatory conflicts (ss. 52-54), and work with the Office of Fair Trading, the Competition Commission and the Lord Chancellor on competition issues (ss. 57-61).[5]
As of March 2008[update], no date is fixed for the coming into force of these provisions.
Before the coming into force of the Act, lawyers in England and Wales could only practice as:
The Act allows alternative business structures (ABSs) with non-lawyers in professional, management or ownership roles. The Act creates a system whereby approved regulators can authorise licensed bodies to offer reserved legal services (ss.71-111).[5]
As of March 2008[update], no date is fixed for the coming into force of these provisions and it has been suggested in the press that such structures are unlikely to be created until 2011 or 2012. Further, the extent to which the Bar Council will permit barristers to become involved in the full range of such structures is, as of March 2008, still unclear.[9]
Approved regulators must operate a complaints system as part of their internal regulatory arrangements (s. 112). Section 114 of the Act creates an Office for Legal Complaints which the Section 115 of the Legal Services Act stipulates must administer an ombudsman scheme (ss. 114-158 /Sch. 15). The offices of Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (OLSCC) and Legal Services Ombudsman (OLSO), which were introduced in the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 are abolished under the Act (s. 159).[5] The Office of the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner (OLSCC) closed on 31 March 2010. The Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman closed in 2011.
For the purposes of complaints only, claims management services are regarded as reserved legal activities and the Claims Management Services Regulator as an approved regulator (s. 161).[5]
Section 114 came into force on 7 March 2008.[9] The Office for Legal Complaints (OLC) launched on Friday 24th July 2009. On 3rd February 2009, the Legal Services Board announced the OLC Board members. On 29th September 2009 it was announced that the Ombudsman would be based in Birmingham, England. That December, it was confirmed that the name Legal Ombudsman had been chosen for the new scheme. On Wednesday 6th October 2010 the Legal Ombudsman began receiving complaints.
The Act extends legal professional privilege to authorised persons other than barristers and solicitors (s. 190).[5] As of March 2008[update], no date is fixed for the coming into force of these provisions.
Where a litigant is represented in civil proceedings on a pro bono basis, it would be contrary to the indemnity principle to award costs to that person.[10][11][12] Section 194 allows the court to order a payment to a charity in lieu.[5] These provisions come into force progressively from 30 June to 1 October 2008.[13][14]
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