UK Offence Report

Penalty for sole solicitor pretending that practice is recognised

paragraph 10A(2) of SCHEDULE 1 of The Legal Services Act 2007 (The Law Society) (Modification of Functions) Order 2015

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

2 Any person who contravenes subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

4 on the standard scale.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
contravening a requirement of the instrument
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
No statutory defence — prosecution proves everything

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

The provision states no defence, so the prosecution bears the burden on every element of the offence.

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision.

What would breach paragraph 10A(2) of SCHEDULE 1?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. On these words an offence is committed where a person contravenes subsection (1).
  2. Doing the thing the provision prohibits under the Legal Services Act 2007 (The Law Society) (Modification of Functions) Order 2015, whatever the reason for doing it.
  3. Where the requirement is a positive duty, letting the time for performing it pass without performing it.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£2,500
Standard scale
Level 4
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
24 February 2015
In force from
Not determined
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order amends the Administration of Justice Act 1985 (c.61) (“the 1985 Act”) in order to make provision as to the regulation of sole solicitors’ practices. It also amends the provisions of the Solicitors Act 1974 (c.47) (“the 1974 Act”) relating to sole solicitors, and the provisions of the European Communities (Lawyer’s Practice) Regulations 2000 (S.I. 2000 No.1119) (“the 2000 Regulations”). Article 3, which implements those changes, comes into force on 1st November 2015 (other than for the purpose of making rules) (article 1). For the purpose of making rules, article 3 comes into force on 6th April 2015, together with the other provisions in this Order. Article 3(1) and Part 2 of Schedule 1 to the Order amend section 9 of the 1985 Act (incorporated practices) to provide for the Law Society to make rules prescribing the circumstances in which a sole solicitor’s practice may be recognised as being suitable to undertake the provision of solicitor services or other relevant legal services, and makes further related amendments to the 1985 Act. Article 3(1) of, and Part 1 of Schedule 1 to, the Order amend section 31 of the 1974 Act (rules as to professional practice, conduct and discipline) to require rules under that section to provide that a solicitor may not practise as a sole solicitor unless there is in force in relation to the sole solicitor’s practice a recognition under section 9 of the 1985 Act. It also repeals the provisions of the 1974 Act relating to sole solicitor endorsements on solicitors’ practising certificates and makes minor and consequential amendments to that Act. In addition paragraph 20(14) to (16) brings the arrangements for intervention in recognised bodies in which the sole solicitor manager dies or become incapacitated into line with the arrangements which will apply in comparable circumstances to recognised sole solicitors’ practices. Article 3(2) of, and Schedule 2 to, the Order make consequential amendments to the 2000 Regulations (which regulate the practice of registered European lawyers). The Order makes transitional provision in relation to sole solicitor endorsements (and, for registered European lawyers, sole practitioner endorsements) which are in force immediately before 1st November 2015. It provides for the practices of solicitors and registered European lawyers whose practising certificates are subject to such endorsements to be recognised under section 9 of the 1985 Act from 1st November 2015. It also provides for the Law Society to direct that recognition has effect subject to one or more conditions. By virtue of the Order such a condition is to be treated as having been imposed under section 9(2F) of the 1985 Act and so takes effect in accordance with Rules made by the Society under section 9(2I) of that Act. It also makes provision in relation to applications for such endorsements which have not been determined by the Law Society immediately before 1st November 2015 (articles 4 and 5). An impact assessment has been prepared for this instrument and can be found at www.legislation.gov.uk or obtained from the Head of Legal Services Policy, Law and Access to Justice Group, Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London, SW1H 9AJ.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

What Parliament said

Mentions of this instrument in Hansard. Parliamentary material is reused under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source