WIREDGOV

The Ministry of Justice today publishes a consultation on the regulations which will control the new Legal Services Board’s power to enter and search the premises of legal profession regulators under warrant.

When the Legal Services Board (LSB) assumes its role as independent oversight regulator of the legal profession early next year, its enforcement powers will include – at the most extreme – the power to take over some of the functions of any persistent or seriously failing direct regulator of legal services. To obtain any documents needed to ensure a seamless takeover, the LSB will be able to apply to a court to enter and search the regulator’s premises.

This consultation asks a range of questions about how that power will be regulated, including what a judge should take into account in deciding whether a warrant is necessary, and whether any material should be exempt from search warrants.

Justice Minister Bridget Prentice said:

‘Consumers must have confidence in the legal profession. If they are not receiving the best possible service because of regulatory failure, it is vital that the LSB has the appropriate powers to rectify this failure.

‘Regulations concerning warrants will ensure that the LSB exercises its most severe enforcement powers proportionately, providing assurance to the regulators that the power will not be abused and certainty to the LSB as to when and how the power can be used.’

The new regulatory framework being introduced in 2010 will see the Legal Services LSB oversee eight approved regulators of the legal services industry. These will be:

• The Law Society
• General Council of the Bar
• Master of the Faculties
• Institute of Legal Executives
• Council for Licensed Conveyancers
• Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys
• Institute of Trade Mark Attorneys
• Association of Law Costs Draftsmen.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland are set to be added to the approved list, and other bodies may also be added at later dates.

The consultation is open until 21 January 2009.

Notes to editors

1. More information on the Legal Services Board is available at their website. The Ministry of Justice is responsible to Parliament for the work of the Legal Services Board.
2. The Legal Services Act 2007, which established the Legal Services Board, can be downloaded in different formats from the Office of Public Sector Information website. Section 42 of the Act relates to the Legal Services Board’s powers to apply for warrants to enter and search premises and the Lord Chancellor’s responsibility to regulate this power (please note: the Lord Chancellor is also the Secretary of State for Justice).
3. For more information, please contact the Ministry of Justice Newsdesk on 020 3334 3536.