The Solicitors (Disciplinary Proceedings) Rules 2007

Made: 14th December 2007

Coming into force: 14th January 2008

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PART 1 — Introduction

Citation and Commencement

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These Rules may be cited as the Solicitors (Disciplinary Proceedings) Rules 2007 and shall come into force on 14th January 2008.

Interpretation

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• (1) In these Rules—

• “the Act” means the Solicitors Act 1974;

• “applicant” means a person making an application;

• “application” means an application made under these Rules;

• “case to answer” means an arguable or prima facie case;

• “clerk” means any clerk to the Tribunal appointed under Rule 3 (including the Clerk);

• “the Clerk” means the clerk to the Tribunal who is in office at the date these Rules come into force, or the clerk subsequently appointed under Rule 3(5);

• “Division” means a division of three members of the Tribunal appointed for the hearing of an application or any matter connected with an application;

• “the Law Society” includes any duly constituted committee of the Law Society or any body or person exercising delegated powers of the Law Society;

• “respondent” means any party to an application other than the applicant;

• “recognised body” has the same meaning as in section 9 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985[^f00002];

• “the Roll” means the Roll of Solicitors kept by the Law Society under section 6 of the Act;

• “solicitor members” and “lay members” have the same meanings as in section 46 of the Act;

• “Statement” means a written statement (including a witness statement) containing a statement of truth;

• “the Tribunal” means the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and where a Division has been appointed for the hearing of an application or any matter connected with it, includes a Division.

• (2) References in these Rules to solicitors include, where appropriate, former solicitors.

• (3) References in these Rules to registered foreign lawyers are references to lawyers whose names are entered in the register of foreign lawyers maintained under section 89 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990[^f00003] and include, where appropriate, those who have ceased to be registered in that register or whose registration has been suspended.

• (4) References in these Rules to registered European lawyers are references to lawyers whose names are entered in the register of registered European lawyers maintained by the Law Society under regulation 15 of the European Communities (Lawyer’s Practice) Regulations 2000[^f00004] and include, where appropriate, those who have ceased to be registered in that register or whose registration has been suspended.

PART 2 — Constitution

President, Vice-Presidents and Clerk

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• (1) The President of the Tribunal holding office immediately before the date on which these rules come into force shall continue to hold office until the Tribunal’s annual general meeting next following 30th April 2009.

• (2) Subject to paragraph (1), the Tribunal, by a simple majority, shall appoint one of the solicitor members to be its President to hold office for a period of 3 years and the person so appointed may be re-appointed for a further period not exceeding 3 years.

• (3) The Tribunal, by a simple majority, shall appoint one solicitor member and one lay member to be its Vice-Presidents to hold office for such period or periods not exceeding 3 years as the Tribunal shall think fit and to exercise such functions as are exercisable under these rules by the President as he may direct.

• (4) The Tribunal shall meet not less than once in each calendar year and shall publish an annual report, a copy of which shall be delivered to the Master of the Rolls and the Law Society.

• (5) The Tribunal shall appoint a Clerk to the Tribunal.

• (6) The Tribunal may also appoint other clerks, including clerks appointed to deal with a particular case or cases.

• (7) A clerk appointed by the Tribunal under this rule shall be a solicitor or barrister of not less than 10 years standing

• (8) A clerk shall vacate his office if—

• (a) in the Tribunal’s opinion (with which the Master of the Rolls agrees) he is physically or mentally incapable of performing his duties; or

• (b) he retires; or

• (c) he is removed from office by a resolution of the Tribunal approved by the Master of the Rolls.

• (9) The Clerk shall be responsible to the Tribunal for the administration of the Tribunal in an efficient manner and, for so long as he shall be remunerated by the Law Society, shall be regarded as seconded to the Tribunal.

• (10) The services of a clerk may be provided to the Tribunal through a body independent of the Law Society and that body may employ him on such terms (including remuneration and pension provision) as the Tribunal shall think fit.

• (11) The Tribunal may prescribe the duties to be performed by the clerks or for which they shall be responsible and those duties shall include arrangements for—

• (a) the submission of applications for certification of a case to answer;

• (b) making pre-listing arrangements including directions of an administrative nature;

• (c) listing of and attendance at hearings;

• (d) securing a record of hearings (by tape recording or other means);

• (e) advising the Tribunal on matters of law or procedure as may be necessary or expedient;

• (f) preparing summaries of allegations, evidence and submissions for inclusion in the Tribunal’s detailed findings;

• (g) drawing orders and findings and filing them with the Law Society;

• (h) the general supervision of other clerks and the Tribunal’s administration and staff; and

• (i) maintaining records and collecting statistics required by the Tribunal.

Constitution of Divisions

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Subject to rules 6(1) and 6(3), a Division shall be constituted for the hearing of any application or matter relating to an application. Two of the Division members shall be solicitor members and one shall be a lay member and (unless the President shall determine otherwise) a solicitor member shall act as Chairman.

PART 3 — Applications

Applications in respect of solicitors, recognised bodies, registered European lawyers and registered foreign lawyers

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• (1) An application to the Tribunal in respect of any allegation or complaint made in respect of a solicitor, a recognised body, a registered European lawyer or a registered foreign lawyer shall be in the form of Form 1 in the Schedule to these Rules.

• (2) The application shall be supported by a Statement setting out the allegations and the facts and matters supporting the application and each allegation contained in it.

• (3) The application, the Statement and any documents exhibited with them shall be delivered to the Clerk together with 5 additional copies and a further copy for any second or further respondent.

Certification of a case to answer

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• (1) An application made under Rule 5 shall be considered by a solicitor member, who shall certify whether there is a case to answer.

• (2) Paragraph (3) applies if—

• (a) the solicitor member is minded not to certify that there is a case to answer; or

• (b) in his opinion, the case is one of doubt or difficulty.

• (3) If this paragraph applies, the application shall be considered by a panel of three members of the Tribunal, at least one of whom shall be a solicitor member and one a Lay member.

• (4) If a solicitor member or a panel decides not to certify that a case to answer is established in accordance with this rule, the application shall be dismissed without formal order unless any party to the proceedings requires otherwise.

• (5) If it is certified that there is a case to answer, a clerk shall serve the application, the Statement and any documents exhibited with them on each respondent in accordance with rule 10.

Supplementary statements

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• (1) The applicant may file supplementary Statements with the Clerk containing additional facts or matters on which the applicant seeks to rely or further allegations and facts or matters in support of the application. Any supplementary Statement containing further allegations against the respondent shall be treated as though it were an application for the purposes of rules 5(3) and 6(1), (2), (3) and (5).

• (2) Without prejudice to any further application which may be made, no supplementary Statement shall, unless by order of the Tribunal, be filed later than 12 months after the date of the Application or less than 30 days before the date fixed for the hearing of the application.

Applications by the Law Society against solicitors’ employees

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• (1) An application made by the Law Society for an order under section 43(2) of the Act shall be in the form of Form 2 in the Schedule to these rules.

• (2) In a case where the Law Society has applied to the Tribunal for an order under section 43(2) of the Act, the solicitor, recognised body, or registered European lawyer by or for whose benefit the respondent is employed or remunerated—

• (a) may also be named or joined as a respondent to the application; and

• (b) shall be joined as a respondent if the Tribunal so direct.

• (3) The provisions of rules 5(2) and (3) and 6(1) to (5) shall apply to every application made under section 43(2) of the Act.

• (4) An application for a review of an order made under section 43(3) of the Act shall be in the form of Form 3 in the Schedule to these Rules.

• (5) Every application under section 43(3) of the Act shall be served on the Law Society and the Law Society shall file with the Clerk a Statement setting out the facts and matters on which it relied in making the order under Section 43(2) of the Act.

Other Applications

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• (1) This rule applies to applications made to the Tribunal under section 47 of the Act—

• (a) by a former solicitor seeking restoration to the Roll;

• (b) by a person seeking restoration to the register of European lawyers or the register of foreign lawyers if his name has been removed from either register;

• (c) by a solicitor, registered foreign lawyer or registered European lawyer seeking the termination of an indefinite period of suspension from practice imposed by the Tribunal.

• (2) An application to which this rule applies shall be made in the form of Form 4 in the Schedule to these Rules.

• (3) The Law Society shall be a respondent to every application to which this rule applies.

• (4) The applicant shall serve on the Law Society—

• (a) a copy of the application; and

• (b) a Statement in support of the application.

• (5) Every application to which this rule applies shall be advertised by the applicant once in the Law Society’s Gazette and once in a newspaper circulating in the area of the applicant’s former practice.

• (6) Any person may, no later than 10 days before the hearing date of an application to which this rule applies, serve on the Tribunal and the parties to the application notice of his intention to oppose the grant of the application and the Tribunal may allow that person to appear before the Tribunal at the hearing of the application, call evidence and make representations upon which the Tribunal may allow him to be cross-examined.

PART 4 — Procedure and rules of evidence

Service of documents

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• (1) Any application, Statement or other document required to be served under rules 6(5), 8(5) and 9(4) shall be served—

• (a) personally; or

• (b) by sending by guaranteed delivery post or other guaranteed and acknowledged delivery to the last known place of business or abode of the person to be served; and

• (c) in such other manner as the Tribunal may direct.

• (2) Any Statement, notice or document other than one which is required to be served in accordance with paragraph (1) may be served in accordance with that paragraph.

• (3) In the case of a solicitor, any Statement, notice or other document required to be served under these rules may be served—

• (a) by leaving it at the address shown as his place of business in the register kept by the Law Society under section 9 of the Act; or

• (b) by any of the methods mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (d) of rule 6.2(1) of the Civil Procedure Rules 1998[^f00005] as they may be modified, amended or replaced.

• (4) Any application, Statement, notice or other document served in accordance with paragraph (1) shall be deemed served on the second working day following the day on which it is delivered, posted or transmitted.

• (5) An application, Statement, notice or other document delivered to the last known place of business or abode of the person to be served may be regarded by the Tribunal as duly served if it is satisfied that it is reasonable to expect that the application, Statement, notice or other document has been received by or brought to the attention of the person to be served.

• (6) If the Tribunal requires the advertisement of any proceedings under these Rules, it may regard that advertisement as service for the purposes of these Rules.

Directions

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• (1) A clerk may give any directions deemed necessary or appropriate for the hearing of any matter brought before the Tribunal.

• (2) Without prejudice to paragraph (1), directions may be made about documentation, inspection, Statements, skeleton arguments and the place or time of any hearing.

• (3) A clerk may appoint a time and place for the review of the progress of the matter and shall notify the parties of the date, time and place of any such review.

• (4) A clerk may refer to the Tribunal any matter for a decision or directions and the Tribunal may itself or on the application of any party make an order on such terms as to the Tribunal shall appear just—

• (a) to give consent to the withdrawal of an application or allegation in respect of which a case to answer has been certified;

• (b) to adjourn any hearing listed for directions or for a substantive hearing;

• (c) to agree to the amendment of any application or allegation or the correction of any matter;

• (d) to make any directions which shall appear necessary or appropriate to secure the timely hearing of the matter.