SRA Handbook

Interpretation

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Version 1 of the Handbook was published on 16/09/2011. For more information, please click 'History' Above

Part 1: Interpretation

Regulation 1: Interpretation and definitions

1.1

Unless the context otherwise requires, the definitions and interpretation provisions as set out within the SRA Glossary shall apply to these regulations.

1.2

In these regulations:

academic stage of training

means that stage of the training of an entrant to the solicitors' profession which is completed by satisfying regulation 3 of the SRA Training Regulations Part 1 - Qualification Regulations, and "academic stage" should be construed accordingly;

adequate training

under a training contract means:

(i)

gaining at least three months' experience in each of at least three different areas of English law;

(ii)

developing skills in both contentious and non-contentious areas; and

(iii)

being given the opportunity to practise and/or observe the activities set out in the Practice Skills Standards;

assets

includes money, documents, wills, deeds, investments and other property;

BSB

means the Bar Standards Board;

certificate of enrolment

should be construed as evidence of student enrolment within the SRA Training Regulations Part 1 - Qualification Regulations;

certificate of satisfaction

means a certificate or certifying letter from us confirming that you have satisfied the SRA Training Regulations and are of the proper character and suitability to be admitted as a solicitor;

character and suitability

satisfies the requirement of section 3 of the SA in order that an individual shall be admitted as a solicitor;

client

means the person for whom you act and where the context permits, includes prospective and former clients;

client money

has the meaning given in Rule 12 of the SRA Accounts Rules, save that for the purposes of Part 7 (Overseas practice) of the SRA Accounts Rules, means money received or held for or on behalf of a client or trust (but excluding money which is held or received by a multi-disciplinary practice-a licensed body providing a range of different services-in relation to those activities for which it is not regulated by the SRA);

company

means a company registered under the Companies Acts, an overseas company incorporated in an Establishment Directive state and registered under the Companies Act 1985 and/or the Companies Act 2006 or a societas Europaea;

CPE 

means the Common Professional Examination, namely a course, including assessments and examinations, approved by the JASB for the purposes of completing the academic stage of training for those who have not satisfactorily completed a QLD;

Diploma in Law

means a graduate or postgraduate diploma in law or second degree awarded by a body authorised by JASB for the purposes of completing the academic stage of training for those who have not satisfactorily completed a QLD;

director

means a director of a company; and in relation to a societas Europaea includes:

(i)

in a two-tier system, a member of the management organ and a member of the supervisory organ; and

(ii)

in a one-tier system, a member of the administrative organ;

Establishment Directive

means the Establishment of Lawyers Directive 98/5/EC;

Exempting Law Degree

means a QLD incorporating an LPC, approved by us;

FILEX 

means a Fellow of the Institute of Legal Executives;

firm

means:

(i)

subject to sub-paragraph (ii) and (v) below, an authorised body, a recognised sole practitioner or a body or individual which should be authorised by the SRA as a recognised body or recognised sole practitioner (but which could not be authorised by another approved regulator);

(ii)

for the purposes of the SRA Accounts Rules, "firm" has the same meaning as at sub-paragraph (i) above but can also include in-house practice;

(iii)

in Part 7 (Overseas practice) of the SRA Accounts Rules, any business through which a solicitor or REL carries on practice other than in-house practice;

(iv)

in the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules:

(A)

any recognised sole practitioner; or

(B)

any recognised body (as constituted from time to time); or

(C)

any solicitor or REL who is a sole practitioner, unless that sole practitioner is a non-SRA firm; or

(D)

any partnership (as constituted from time to time) which is eligible to become a recognised body and which meets the requirements applicable to recognised bodies set out in the SRA Practice Framework Rules, SRA Recognised Bodies Regulations 2011 (until 31 March 2012), and the SRA Authorisation Rules (from 31 March 2012), unless that partnership is a non-SRA firm; or

(E)

any licensed body in respect of its regulated activities, whether before or during any relevant indemnity period;

(v)

in the SRA European Cross-border Rules, means any business through which a solicitor or REL carries on practice other than in-house practice;

foundations of legal knowledge

means those foundations of law the study of which is prescribed by us and the BSB through the JASB for the purpose of completing the academic stage of training by undertaking a QLD or CPE and passing the assessments and examinations set during that course;

Integrated Course

means a Diploma in Law/CPE incorporating an LPC, approved by us;

in-house practice

means practice as a solicitor, REL or RFL (as appropriate) in accordance with Rules 1.1(c)(ii)(B), 1.1(d)(ii)(B), 1.1(e), 1.2(f), 2.1(c)(ii)(B), 2.1(d)(ii)(B), 2.1(e), 2.2(f), 3.1(b)(ii)(B) or 3.1(c)(ii)(B) of the SRA Practice Framework Rules;

JASB 

means the Joint Academic Stage Board, namely the joint committee of the BSB and the SRA responsible for the setting and implementation of policies in respect of the academic stage, and validation and review of QLDs and CPEs.

Justices' Clerk's Assistant

bears the meaning contained in the Assistants to Justices' Clerks Regulations 2006;

LPC

means a Legal Practice Course, namely a course the satisfactory completion of which is recognised by us as satisfying, in part, the vocational stage of training;

LPC Outcomes

means our minimum educational standards that LPC students must meet in order to satisfactorily complete the course;

manager

means:

(i)

a member of an LLP;

(ii)

a director of a company;

(iii)

a partner in a partnership; or

(iv)

in relation to any other body, a member of its governing body;

save that for the purposes of:

(v)

Part 7 (Overseas practice) of the SRA Accounts Rules "a manager" includes the director of any company, and is not limited to the director of a company as defined herein; and

(vi)

the SRA Cost of Investigations Regulations and the SRA Disciplinary Procedure Rules where in (iii) above terms partner and partnership are to be given their natural meaning;

mature student

means someone who intends to undertake the Diploma in Law or CPE and who has:

(i)

considerable experience or shown exceptional ability in an academic, professional, business or administrative field; and

(ii)

attained such standard of general education as we may consider sufficient;

MILEX 

means a Member of the Institute of Legal Executives;

owner

means, in relation to a body, a person with any ownership interest in the body, save that:

(i)

in the SRA Authorisation Rules owner means any person who holds a material interest in an authorised body, and in the case of a partnership, any partner regardless of whether they hold a material interest in the partnership; and

(ii)

for the purposes of Chapter 12 of the SRA Code of Conduct means a person having a substantial ownership interest in a separate business and "own" and "owned by" shall be construed accordingly;

(iii)

for the purposes of the SRA Suitability Test includes owners who have no active role in the running of the business as well as owners who do;

partner

means a person who is or is held out as a partner in a partnership save for in the SRA Accounts Rules, in which it means an individual who is or is held out as a partner in a partnership;

practice

means the activities, in that capacity, of:

(i)

a solicitor;

(ii)

an REL, from an office or offices within the UK;

(iii)

a member of an Establishment Directive profession registered with the BSB under the Establishment Directive, carried out from an office or offices in England and Wales;

(iv)

an RFL, from an office or offices in England and Wales as:

(A)

an employee of a recognised sole practitioner;

(B)

a manager, employee or owner of an authorised body or of an authorised non-SRA firm; or

(C)

a manager, employee or owner of a body which is a manager or owner of an authorised body or of an authorised non-SRA firm;

(v)

an authorised body;

(vi)

a manager of an authorised body;

(vii)

a person employed in England and Wales by an authorised body or recognised sole practitioner;

(viii)

a lawyer of England and Wales; or

(ix)

an authorised non-SRA firm;

and "practise" and "practising" should be construed accordingly; save for in:

(x)

the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules where "practice" means the whole or such part of the private practice of a firm as is carried on from one or more offices in England and Wales; and

(xi)

the SRA Indemnity Rules where it means a practice to the extent that:

(A)

in relation to a licensed body, it carries on regulated activities; and

(B)

in all other cases, it carries on private practice providing professional services as a sole solicitor or REL or as a partnership of a type referred to in Rule 6.1(d) to 6.1(f) and consisting of or including one or more solicitors and/or RELs, and shall include the business or practice carried on by a recognised body in the providing of professional services such as are provided by individuals practising in private practice as solicitors and/or RELs or by such individuals in partnership with RFLs, whether such practice is carried on by the recognised body alone or in partnership with one or more solicitors, RELs and/or other recognised bodies;

Practice Skills Standards

means the standards published by us which set out the practice skills trainees will develop during the training contract and use when qualified;

Principles

means the Principles in the SRA Handbook;

PSC 

means the Professional Skills Course, namely a course normally completed during the training contract, building upon the LPC, providing training in Financial and Business Skills, Advocacy and Communication Skills, and Client Care and Professional Standards. Satisfactory completion of the PSC is recognised by us as satisfying in part the vocational stage of training;

QLD

means a qualifying law degree, namely a degree or qualification awarded by a body approved by the JASB for the purposes of completing the academic stage of training, following a course of study which includes:

(i)

the study of the foundations of legal knowledge; and

(ii)

the passing of appropriate assessments set in those foundations;

QLTR

means the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Regulations 1990 and 2009;

QLTSR

means the SRA Qualified Lawyers Transfer Scheme Regulations 2010 and 2011;

qualifying employment

means employment to do legal duties under the supervision of a solicitor;

REL

means registered European lawyer, namely, an individual registered with the SRA under regulation 17 of the European Communities (Lawyer's Practice) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000 no. 1119).

RFL

means registered foreign lawyer, namely, an individual registered with the SRA under section 89 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990;

SA

means the Solicitors Act 1974;

satisfactory completion

of a course or courses means:

(i)

passing all the examinations and assessments required; and/or

(ii)

here appropriate having part or parts awarded through condonation, deemed pass, or exemption;

in order to graduate from or pass an assessable course of study, and being awarded a certificate from the course provider confirming this. "Satisfactorily completed" should be construed accordingly;

solicitor

means a person who has been admitted as a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales and whose name is on the roll kept by the Society under section 6 of the SA, save that in the SRA Indemnity Insurance Rules includes a person who practises as a solicitor whether or not he or she has in force a practising certificate and also includes practice under home title of a former REL who has become a solicitor;

SRA

means the Solicitors Regulation Authority, and reference to the SRA as an approved regulator or licensing authority means the SRA carrying out regulatory functions assigned to the Society as an approved regulator or licensing authority.

SRA Admission Regulations

means the SRA Admission Regulations 2011;

SRA Training Regulations

means the SRA Training Regulations 2011;

student enrolment

means the process where we satisfy ourselves that a student who intends to proceed to the vocational stage of training has satisfactorily completed the academic stage of training and is of the appropriate character and suitability. "Enrolment" should be construed accordingly, and "certificate of enrolment" should be construed as evidence of student enrolment;

trainee solicitor

means any person receiving workplace training with the express purpose of qualification as a solicitor, at an authorised training establishment, under a training contract, and "trainee" should be construed accordingly;

training contract

means a written contract, complying with the SRA Training Regulations, between one or more training establishments and a trainee solicitor, setting out the terms and conditions of the workplace training that the trainee solicitor will receive;

training contract record

means an adequate record of experience a trainee solicitor is getting and the skills they are developing during the training contract;

training establishment

means an organisation, body, firm, company, in-house practice or individual authorised by us under the SRA Training Regulations Part 2 - Training Provider Regulations to take and train a trainee solicitor;

training principal

means any solicitor who:

(i)

holds a current practising certificate;

(ii)

has held immediately prior to a current practising certificate four consecutive practising certificates;

(iii)

is nominated by a training establishment as such;

(iv)

is a partner, manager, director, owner, or has equivalent seniority and/or managerial status; and

(v)

has undertaken such training as we may prescribe;

and for the purposes of (ii) above a solicitor who has been an REL for a continuous period before their admission as a solicitor can use each complete year of registration as the equivalent of having held one practising certificate. A Government Legal Service solicitor with appropriate seniority, experience and training will be exempt from the practising certificate requirements for training principals;

UK

means United Kingdom;

unadmitted person

means a person who:

(i)

holds a current certificate of enrolment;

(ii)

is serving under a training contract; or

(iii)

has completed any part or all of the vocational stage of training, in accordance with regulations 16 to 32 of the SRA Training Regulations Part 1 - Qualification Regulations, but does not hold a current certificate of enrolment;

but who has not been admitted as a solicitor;

us

means the SRA, and "we", "our" and "ourselves" should be construed accordingly;

vocational stage of training

means that stage of the training of an entrant to the solicitors' profession which is completed by:

(i)

satisfactory completion of an LPC;

or

(ii)

satisfactory completion of an Exempting Law Degree or Integrated Course;

and

(iii)

subject to regulations 30, 31 and 32 of the SRA Training Regulations Part 1 - Qualification Regulations, serving under a training contract; and

(iv)

satisfactory completion of a PSC and such other course or courses as we may from time to time prescribe;

you

means any person intending to be a solicitor, other than those seeking admission under the QLTSR, and "your" should be construed accordingly.

Regulation 2: Compliance with these regulations

2.1

You must have:

(a)

satisfactorily completed the academic stage;

(b)

satisfactorily completed the vocational stage; and

(c)

otherwise complied with these regulations;

to be admitted as a solicitor.