The SRA Handbook is no longer in effect. It was replaced by the SRA Standards and Regulations on 25 November 2019.

SRA Handbook

Name, the register and certificate of recognition

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Version 2 of the Handbook was published on 23/12/2011. For more information, please click 'History' Above

Part 3: Name, the register and certificate of recognition

Regulation 13: Name of a recognised body

13.1

A body corporate will be recognised under its corporate name.

13.2

A partnership must elect to have a name under which it is to be recognised.

Regulation 14: The register of recognised bodies

14.1

The SRA must keep a register of recognised bodies, which may be kept in electronic form.

14.2

The register of recognised bodies must contain, for each recognised body:

(a)

the name and number under which the body is recognised;

(b)

any other practising styles used by the body;

(c)

the recognised body's registered office and registered number, if it is an LLP or company;

(d)

the recognised body's principal practising address in England and Wales;

(e)

all the recognised body's other practising addresses;

(f)

whether the recognised body is a partnership, an LLP or a company;

(g)

if the recognised body is a company, whether it is:

(i)

a company limited by shares;

(ii)

a company limited by guarantee;

(iii)

an unlimited company;

(iv)

an overseas company registered in England and Wales;

(v)

an overseas company registered in Scotland;

(vi)

an overseas company registered in Northern Ireland; or

(vii)

a societas Europaea;

(h)

a list of the body's managers, and in respect of each manager, whether that manager is:

(i)

a lawyer of England and Wales, and if so the nature of his or her qualification;

(ii)

an REL, and if so his or her professional title and jurisdiction of qualification;

(iii)

an EEL registered with the BSB, and if so his or her professional title and jurisdiction of qualification;

(iv)

an EEL based entirely at an office or offices outside England and Wales, and if so his or her professional title and jurisdiction of qualification;

(v)

an RFL, and if so his or her professional title and jurisdiction of qualification;

(vi)

an individual approved under regulation 5;

(vii)

a company, and if so whether it is a recognised body, a European corporate practice or an authorised non-SRA firm;

(viii)

an LLP, and if so whether it is a recognised body, a European corporate practice or an authorised non-SRA firm; and

(ix)

a partnership with separate legal personality, and if so whether it is a recognised body, a European corporate practice or an authorised non-SRA firm;

(i)

any condition to which the body's recognition is subject; and

(j)

any other reasonable information, necessary for carrying out the SRA's statutory objectives, from time to time prescribed by the SRA.

14.3

Public information

(a)

Entries in the register must be available for inspection by any member of the public, except that the SRA may withhold an address in exceptional circumstances where the SRA considers that to do so would be in the public interest.

(b)

The date on which, and the circumstances in which, a recognised body's recognition expired or was revoked must be made available to a member of the public on request.

Regulation 15: Certificates of recognition

15.1

When a body is granted initial recognition or its recognition is renewed, the SRA must issue a certificate of recognition.

15.2

Each certificate of recognition must state, in respect of the recognised body:

(a)

the name and number under which the body is recognised;

(b)

its registered office, if it is an LLP or company;

(c)

its principal practising address in England and Wales;

(d)

whether it is a partnership, an LLP or a company; and if it is a company, whether it is:

(i)

a company limited by shares;

(ii)

a company limited by guarantee;

(iii)

an unlimited company;

(iv)

an overseas company registered in England and Wales;

(v)

an overseas company registered in Scotland;

(vi)

an overseas company registered in Northern Ireland; or

(vii)

a societas Europaea;

(e)

the date from which recognition is granted or renewed;

(f)

the next renewal date; and

(g)

any condition to which the body's recognition is subject.