SRA Consults On Suitability Guidelines For Solicitors

by Robin Pilgrim, LawAndTax-News.com, London

12 February 2007

The new independent regulator for solicitors in the UK, the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), announced last week that it has launched a consultation on the types of people that should be entering the profession.

The Solicitors Act 1974 and various regulations oblige the SRA to ensure that, before admission, people are of the character and suitability to be a solicitor – but there is no currently no official definition of 'character and suitability'.

Since June 2006, draft guidelines have been piloted to ensure they are workable. The SRA now wants all its stakeholders to say whether the guidelines can be improved.

The consultation - which closes on 27 April - includes questions on the circumstances under which convictions or other behaviour should prevent somebody from becoming a solicitor, and whether there are any exceptional circumstances which ought to be taken into account.

SRA Chair, Peter Williamson explained that:

"The issue of 'character and suitability' is at the heart of our drive to set clear, transparent and proportionate standards for solicitors and would-be solicitors. We believe that scrutiny of these qualities should be aimed at protecting the public, upholding the rule of law and promoting public confidence in the honesty, integrity and professionalism of solicitors."

According to 2006 figures, 7,075 new solicitors were admitted last year, of which 59.4% were women. Two thirds of newly admitted solicitors last year were aged 29 years or less, and 1,075 had transferred across from another jurisdiction.

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