• March 29, 2024
 Is A New Regime Needed To Check Solicitors’ Competence?

Is A New Regime Needed To Check Solicitors’ Competence?

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), is going to launch a review on its regime of checking a solicitor’s competence.

This has come as a result of the Legal Services Consumer Panel (LSCP) asking that the review includes an “independent review of cases or advice such as spot checks or mystery shopping.”

Earlier this year the Legal Services Board (LSB) asked the SRA and the LSCP to provide evidence surrounding the issue as well as that of the possibility of formal periodic accreditation.

It has been five years since the SRA launched its competence statement, and now the organisation believes it is time to undertake a review to ensure they are providing those they regulate with the assurance that they are safe to practice.

The SRA said:

“We do not intend to change our competence statement, or our requirements for ongoing reflection and development.

“However, we will consider the evidence and data we have about continuing competence and use that to inform whether there is anything further we can and should do to enhance our approach.”

The SRA said review would consider the “three key questions” of whether there was evidence of “issues around compliance” with existing competence arrangements, whether the current approach was “effective and targeted where it needs to be”, and what could be learnt from other sectors.

Jennifer van Deursen