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Council Members Report
Council Members Report
May 2023
Remaining on the Roll of Solicitors: if you know someone who no longer holds a PC, please let them know that they need to apply to remain on the roll and pay a fee to the SRA. They need to open a MySRA account, so the SRA can contact them. If you are not registered by 26 May, they will be taken off the roll.
India: the President of TLS, Lubna Shuja, had recently returned from a fortnight’s trip to India to discuss the liberalisation of legal services in India with various stakeholders, including the Law Secretary of India, the Bar Council of India, and numerous lawyers practising in India. The Bar Council of India had since announced that India would allow foreign law firms and foreign lawyers to practise there on a permanent basis. This was an issue that the Law Society had been campaigning on for some years.
Criminal Legal Aid: the Law Society had issued judicial review proceedings against the MOJ regarding its decision not to increase criminal defence solicitors’ legal aid rates by the recommended minimum 15%, on the grounds that the decision was unlawful and irrational. The government’s response to the Society’s pre-action letter did not address the Society’s serious concerns about the collapse of the criminal legal aid sector as a result of years of chronic underfunding. The President continued to raise these concerns with the government’s approach at every possible opportunity.
Illegal Migration Bill: the Society has concerns about this Bill. One key concern is that there has been no public consultation to ensure that this bill is workable, provides due process for those claiming asylum, or is compliant with international law –something that the government had conceded was not the case in relation to the European Convention on Human Rights. The President is continuing to press the Government for clarification.
Legal Heroes: the Society had launched its Legal Heroes campaign, to recognise and celebrate solicitors who had made a lasting and tangible difference to the profession, their local communities, and society. The deadline for nominations is midnight on 30 April. Nomination forms can be found online at https://www.lawsociety.org.uk/campaigns/legal-heroes
Get Involved: the Society Is driving forward its first ever volunteering strategy, called Get Involved. It is based on the vision that every solicitor can make a difference in actively promoting, protecting and supporting their profession, the rule of law and access to justice by getting involved in the Law Society. TLS knows that to be a truly effective voice of the profession, its members’ experience and expertise should influence and shape its work across its policy, products and services, and in its governance structures. TLS knows from a recent member survey that it is not meeting members’ appetite in this regard. A member working group has been set up and debated a range of principles that would underpin the strategy; their feedback
has led to the recommendation that volunteering at the Law Society is relevant, open, rewarding and makes a difference. Opportunities to Get Involved will be advertised in due course, so please look out for this.
CILEX (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives) regulation: TLS has established a working group to consider the implications of the proposal by CILEX to the Legal Services Board (LSB) that it should be regulated by the SRA. Ahead of consideration of this issue TLS has started to consider the advantages and disadvantages to develop its strategic position and inform the SRA of potential concerns. This will be in advance of a formal consultation process likely to take place later in 2023. If you wish to make any comments, please email me.
Contact me at: aedgerleyharris@shentons.co.uk or 01962 844544
