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

Rule 23: Interpretation

23.1

All italicised terms in these rules are to be interpreted in accordance with Chapter 14 (Interpretation) of the SRA Code of Conduct, unless they are defined as follows:

authorised person(s)

means a person who is authorised by the SRA or another approved regulator to carry on a legal activity and for the purpose of these rules includes a solicitor, a sole practitioner, an REL, an EEL, an RFL, an authorised body, an authorised non-SRA firm and a European corporate practice and the terms "authorised individual" and "non-authorised person" shall be construed accordingly;

BSB 

means the Bar Standards Board;

charity

has the meaning given in section 96(1) of the Charities Act 1993;

EEL

means exempt European lawyer, namely a member of an Establishment Directive profession:

(i)

registered with the BSB; or

(ii)

based entirely at an office or offices outside England and Wales,

who is not a lawyer of England and Wales (whether entitled to practise as such or not);

European corporate practice

means a lawyers' practice which is a body incorporated in an Establishment Directive state, or a partnership with separate legal identity formed under the law of an Establishment Directive state:

(i)

which has an office in an Establishment Directive state but does not have an office in England and Wales;

(ii)

whose ultimate beneficial owners include at least one individual who is not a lawyer of England and Wales but is, and is entitled to practise as, a lawyer of an Establishment Directive profession; and

(iii)

whose managers include at least one such individual, or at least one body corporate whose managers include at least one such individual;

foreign lawyer

means an individual who is not a solicitor or barrister of England and Wales, but who is a member and is entitled to practise as such, of a legal profession regulated within a jurisdiction outside England and Wales;

interest holder

means a person who has an interest or an indirect interest, or holds a material interest, in a body (and "indirect interest" and "interest" have the same meaning as in the LSA), and references to "holds an interest" shall be construed accordingly;

legal activity

has the meaning given in section 12 of the LSA and includes any reserved legal activity and any other activity which consists of the provision of legal advice or assistance, or representation in connection with the application of the law or resolution of legal disputes;

legally qualified

means any of the following:

(i)

a lawyer;

(ii)

a recognised body;

(iii)

an authorised non-SRA firm of which all the managers and interest holders are lawyers save that where another body ("A") is a manager of or has an interest in the firm, non-authorised persons are entitled to exercise, or control the exercise of, less than 10% of the voting rights in A;

(iv)

European corporate practice of which all the managers and interest holders are lawyers;

and references to a "legally qualified body" shall be construed accordingly;

legal services body

means a body which meets the criteria in Rule 13 (Eligibility criteria and fundamental requirements for recognised bodies);

licensing authority

means an approved regulator which is designated as a licensing authority under Part 1 of Schedule 10 to the LSA, and whose licensing rules have been approved for the purposes of the LSA;

principal

means a sole practitioner or a partner in a partnership;

qualified to supervise

means a person complying with the requirements of Rule 12.2;

register of European lawyers

means the register of European lawyers maintained by the SRA under regulation 15 of the European Communities (Lawyer's Practice) Regulations 2000 (SI 2000/1119);

register of foreign lawyers

means the register of foreign lawyers maintained by the SRA under the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990;

regulatory arrangements

has the meaning given to it by section 21 of the LSA, and includes all rules and regulations of the SRA in relation to the authorisation, practice, conduct, discipline and qualification of persons carrying on legal activities and the accounts rules and indemnification and compensation arrangements in relation to their practice;

related body

in relation to in-house practice means a body standing in relation to your employer as specified in Rule 4.7(a) to (d) or 4.15(c);

relevant insolvency event

a relevant insolvency event occurs in relation to a body if:

(i)

a resolution for a voluntary winding-up of the body is passed without a declaration of solvency under section 89 of the Insolvency Act 1986;

(ii)

the body enters administration within the meaning of paragraph 1(2)(b) of Schedule B1 to that Act;

(iii)

an administrative receiver within the meaning of section 251 of that Act is appointed;

(iv)

a meeting of creditors is held in relation to the body under section 95 of that Act (creditors' meeting which has the effect of converting a members' voluntary winding up into a creditors' voluntary winding up);

(v)

an order for the winding up of the body is made;

(vi)

all of the managers in a body which is unincorporated have been adjudicated bankrupt; or

(vii)

the body is an overseas company or a societas Europaea registered outside England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and the body is subject to an event in its country of incorporation analogous to an event as set out in paragraphs (i) to (vi) above;

reserved work

means activities which persons are authorised by the SRA to carry out, or prohibited from carrying out, under these rules;

shareowner

means:

(i)

a member of a company with a share capital, who owns a share in the body; or

(ii)

a person who is not a member of a company with a share capital, but owns a share in the body, which is held by a member as nominee;

SRA Accounts Rules

means the SRA Accounts Rules 2011;

SRA Code of Conduct

means the SRA Code of Conduct 2011;

SRA Practising Regulations

means the SRA Practising Regulations 2011.