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Legal Services Bill [HL]


Legal Services Bill [HL]
Part 4 — Regulation of approved regulators

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50      

Policy statements: procedure

(1)   

Before issuing a statement under section 49, the Board must publish a draft of

the proposed statement.

(2)   

The draft must be accompanied by a notice which states that representations

about the proposals may be made to the Board within a specified period.

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(3)   

Before issuing the statement, the Board must have regard to any

representations duly made.

(4)   

If the statement differs from the draft published under subsection (1) in a way

which is, in the opinion of the Board, material, the Board must publish details

of the differences.

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(5)   

The Board may make a reasonable charge for providing a person with a copy

of a draft published under subsection (1).

Practising fees

51      

Control of practising fees charged by approved regulators

(1)   

In this section “practising fee”, in relation to an approved regulator, means a

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fee payable by a person under the approved regulator’s regulatory

arrangements in circumstances where the payment of the fee is a condition

which must be satisfied for that person to be authorised by the approved

regulator to carry on one or more activities which are reserved legal activities.

(2)   

An approved regulator may only apply amounts raised by practising fees for

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one or more of the permitted purposes.

(3)   

The Board must make rules specifying the permitted purposes.

(4)   

Those rules must, in particular, provide that the following are permitted

purposes—

(a)   

the regulation, accreditation, education and training of relevant

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authorised persons and those wishing to become such persons,

including—

(i)   

the maintaining and raising of their professional standards, and

(ii)   

the giving of practical support, and advice about practice

management, in relation to practices carried on by such

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persons;

(b)   

the payment of a levy imposed on the approved regulator under

section 173;

(c)   

the participation by the approved regulator in law reform and the

legislative process;

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(d)   

the provision by relevant authorised persons, and those wishing to

become relevant authorised persons, of reserved legal services,

immigration advice or immigration services to the public free of charge;

(e)   

the promotion of the protection by law of human rights and

fundamental freedoms;

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(f)   

the promotion of relations between the approved regulator and

relevant national or international bodies, governments or the legal

professions of other jurisdictions.

 
 

Legal Services Bill [HL]
Part 4 — Regulation of approved regulators

29

 

(5)   

A practising fee is payable under the regulatory arrangements of an approved

regulator only if the Board has approved the level of the fee.

(6)   

The Board must make rules containing provision—

(a)   

about the form and manner in which applications for approval for the

purposes of subsection (5) must be made and the material which must

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accompany such applications;

(b)   

requiring applicants to have consulted such persons as may be

prescribed by the rules in such manner as may be so prescribed before

such an application is made;

(c)   

about the procedures and criteria that will be applied by the Board

10

when determining whether to approve the level of a fee for the

purposes of subsection (5).

(7)   

Rules under subsection (6)(c) must, in particular, contain—

(a)   

provision requiring the Board, before it determines an application for

approval of the level of a fee, to consult such persons as it considers

15

appropriate about the impact of the proposed fee on persons providing

non-commercial legal services;

(b)   

provision about the time limit for the determining of an application.

(8)   

In this section “relevant authorised persons”, in relation to an approved

regulator, means persons who are authorised by the approved regulator to

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carry on activities which are reserved legal activities.

Regulatory conflict

52      

Regulatory conflict with approved regulators

(1)   

The regulatory arrangements of an approved regulator must make such

provision as is reasonably practicable to prevent regulatory conflicts.

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(2)   

For the purposes of this section and section 53, a regulatory conflict is a conflict

between—

(a)   

a requirement of the approved regulator’s regulatory arrangements,

and

(b)   

a requirement of the regulatory arrangements of another approved

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regulator.

(3)   

Subsection (4) applies where a body is authorised by an approved regulator

(“the entity regulator”) to carry on an activity which is a reserved legal activity.

(4)   

If a conflict arises between—

(a)   

a requirement of the regulatory arrangements of the entity regulator, in

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relation to the body authorised by the entity regulator or an employee

or manager of the body (“an entity requirement”), and

(b)   

a requirement of the regulatory arrangements of another approved

regulator in relation to an employee or manager of the body who is

authorised by it to carry on a reserved legal activity (“an individual

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requirement”),

   

the entity requirement prevails over the individual requirement.

 
 

Legal Services Bill [HL]
Part 4 — Regulation of approved regulators

30

 

53      

Modification of provision made about regulatory conflict

(1)   

An approved regulator (“the applicant regulator”) may make an application

under this section if it considers that the regulatory arrangements of another

approved regulator (“the conflicting regulator”) do not make appropriate

provision to prevent a regulatory conflict with the applicant regulator.

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(2)   

An application under this section is an application made to the Board for the

Board to exercise its powers under section 32 to direct the conflicting

regulator—

(a)   

to take steps to modify, in such manner as may be specified in the

direction, the provision made by its regulatory arrangements to

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prevent a regulatory conflict with the applicant regulator, or

(b)   

if its regulatory arrangements do not make any such provision, to make

such provision as may be specified in the direction to prevent such a

conflict.

(3)   

An approved regulator must consider any request made by an affected

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person—

(a)   

for the approved regulator to reconsider the provision made by its

regulatory arrangements to prevent a regulatory conflict with another

approved regulator, or

(b)   

for the approved regulator to make an application under this section.

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(4)   

An “affected person”, in relation to an approved regulator, means—

(a)   

a person authorised by the approved regulator to carry on a reserved

legal activity;

(b)   

an employee or manager of such a person.

(5)   

Where an application is made under this section, the Board—

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(a)   

must give the applicant regulator and the conflicting regulator an

opportunity to make representations, and

(b)   

may consult any persons it considers appropriate.

(6)   

The Board must decide whether or not to give a warning notice in response to

the application.

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(7)   

The Board must make that decision before the end of the period of 6 months

beginning with the day on which the application is received by it.

(8)   

The Board must give notice of its decision, and the reasons for it, to the

applicant regulator and the conflicting regulator.

(9)   

For the purposes of this section “warning notice” means a notice given under

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paragraph 2(1) of Schedule 7 (warning of proposed direction under section 32).

54      

Regulatory conflict with other regulatory regimes

(1)   

The regulatory arrangements of an approved regulator must make such

provision as is reasonably practicable and, in all the circumstances,

appropriate—

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(a)   

to prevent external regulatory conflicts,

(b)   

to provide for the resolution of any external regulatory conflicts which

arise, and

(c)   

to prevent unnecessary duplication of regulatory provisions made by

an external regulatory body.

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Legal Services Bill [HL]
Part 4 — Regulation of approved regulators

31

 

(2)   

For the purposes of this section, an external regulatory conflict is a conflict

between—

(a)   

a requirement of the regulatory arrangements of the approved

regulator, and

(b)   

a requirement of any regulatory provision made by an external

5

regulatory body.

(3)   

For this purpose “external regulatory body” means a person (other than an

approved regulator) who exercises regulatory functions in relation to a

particular description of persons with a view to ensuring compliance with

rules (whether statutory or non-statutory) by those persons.

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(4)   

Regulatory arrangements made for the purposes of subsection (1)(b) may, with

the consent of the Board, provide for the Board to exercise functions in

connection with the resolution of conflicts.

Information

55      

Provision of information to the Board

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(1)   

The Board may, by notice, require an approved regulator—

(a)   

to provide any information, or information of a description, specified in

the notice, or

(b)   

to produce documents, or documents of a description, specified in the

notice.

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(2)   

A notice under subsection (1)—

(a)   

may specify the manner and form in which any information is to be

provided;

(b)   

must specify the period within which any information is to be provided

or document is to be produced;

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(c)   

may require any information to be provided, or document to be

produced, to the Board or to a person specified in the notice.

(3)   

The Board may, by notice, require a person representing the approved

regulator to attend at a time and place specified in the notice to provide an

explanation of any information provided or document produced under this

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section.

(4)   

The Board may pay to any person such reasonable costs as may be incurred by

that person in connection with—

(a)   

the provision of any information, or the production of any document,

by that person pursuant to a notice under subsection (1), or

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(b)   

that person’s compliance with a requirement imposed under

subsection (3).

(5)   

The Board, or a person specified under subsection (2)(c), may take copies of or

extracts from a document produced pursuant to a notice under subsection (1).

(6)   

For the purposes of this section and section 56, references to an approved

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regulator include a body which was, but is no longer, an approved regulator.

 
 

 
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