SRA Handbook

Interpretation and definitions

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

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:

assets

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

authorised CPD course providers

means those providers authorised by us to provide training that attracts CPD hours as a result of attendance;

authorised distance learning provider

means those providers authorised by us to provide distance learning courses delivered by methods including correspondence, webinar, webcast, podcast, DVD, video and audio cassettes, television or radio broadcasts and computer based learning programmes;

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);

CPD

means continuing professional development, namely, the training requirement(s) set by us to ensure solicitors and RELs maintain competence;

CPD training record

means a record of all CPD undertaken to comply with the SRA Training Regulations Part 3 - CPD Regulations;

CPD year

means each year commencing 1 November to 31 October;

Establishment Directive

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

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;

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;

part-time

means working fewer than 32 hours per week;

participation

for the purposes of regulation 8 of the SRA Training Regulations Part 3 - CPD Regulations includes, preparing, delivering and/or attending accredited courses and "participating" should be construed accordingly;

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:

(xii)

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

(xiii)

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;

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;

QLTR 

means the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Regulations 1990 and 2009;

QLTSR

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

QLTT

means the Qualified Lawyers Transfer Test, namely, the test which some lawyers are required to pass under the QLTR;

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)

where 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 Training Regulations

means the SRA Training Regulations 2011;

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 consortium

means an arrangement between more than one employer, one of which is authorised to take trainees, to provide a training contract (referred to in the SRA Training Regulations Part 2 - Training Provider Regulations as a modular 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;

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;

UK

means United Kingdom;

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

for the purposes of these regulations means a solicitor or an REL, and references to "your" and "yourself" should be construed accordingly.