SRA Handbook

Introduction to the Suitability Test

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Introduction to the Suitability Test

Preamble

Authority: Made on 17 June 2011 by the Solicitors Regulation Authority Board under sections 28, 79 and 80 of the Solicitors Act 1974 with the approval of the Legal Services Board under paragraph 19 of Schedule 4 to the Legal Services Act 2007

Date: These regulations came into force on 6 October 2011

Replacing: The SRA guidelines on the assessment of character and suitability

Applicability: Students and trainee solicitors under the SRA Training Regulations;

Qualified lawyers under the QLTSR;

Those seeking admission as solicitors under the Admission Regulations, fulfilling the duties under section 3 of the Solicitors Act 1974;

Those seeking to become authorised role holders in accordance with rules 8.5 and 8.6 of the SRA Authorisation Rules.

Overview

Outcomes-focused regulation concentrates on providing positive outcomes which when achieved will benefit and protect clients and the public. We must ensure that any individual admitted as a solicitor has, and maintains, the level of honesty, integrity and the professionalism expected by the public and other stakeholders and professionals, and does not pose a risk to the public or the profession.

The Suitability Test will apply the same high standards to all those seeking admission as a solicitor, as well as legally qualified and non-legally qualified applicants for roles in authorised bodies as authorised role holders.

The test is the same for non-solicitors as they will be working within the profession and must meet the same high standards that the general public expect of solicitors. This document is intended to make it clear to you what this standard is in terms of your character, suitability, fitness and propriety.

No applicant has the automatic right of admission or authorisation and it will always be for you to discharge the burden of satisfying suitability under this test. Any application that requires us to be satisfied as to character, suitability, fitness and propriety will be determined by reference to this test.

The Principles

The Suitability Test forms part of the Handbook, in which the 10 mandatory Principles are all-pervasive. They apply to all those we regulate and to all aspects of practice.

You must:

1

uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice;

2

act with integrity;

3

not allow your independence to be compromised;

4

act in the best interests of each client;

5

provide a proper standard of service to your clients;

6

behave in a way that maintains the trust the public places in you and in the provision of legal services;

7

comply with your legal and regulatory obligations and deal with your regulators and ombudsmen in an open, timely and co-operative manner;

8

run your business or carry out your role in the business effectively and in accordance with proper governance and sound financial and risk management principles;

9

run your business or carry out your role in the business in a way that encourages equality of opportunity and respect for diversity; and

10

protect client money and assets.

Outcomes

The outcomes which apply to this test are as follows:

O(SB1)

if you are a solicitor, you are of the required standard of character and suitability;

O(SB2)

if you are an authorised role holder, you are fit and proper; and

O(SB3)

you act so that clients, and the wider public, have confidence that O(SB1) has been demonstrated.

The outcomes, and the criteria that flow from them, apply to all those who are intending to become solicitors - i.e. students, trainee solicitors, and qualified lawyers from other jurisdictions seeking qualification via transfer - at the point of student enrolment, admission, and throughout the pre-qualification period. They also apply to compliance officers, owners, and/or managers at the point of and throughout their period of authorisation.

Interpretation and definitions

1

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

2

In this test:

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;

assets

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

authorised role holder

means COLP, COFA, owner or manager under rules 8.5 and 8.6 of the SRA Authorisation Rules, and "authorised role" should be construed accordingly;

bodies corporate

means a company, an LLP, or a partnership which is a legal person in its own right, and "bodies corporate" should be construed accordingly;

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);

COFA 

means compliance officer for finance and administration in accordance with rule 8.5 of the SRA Authorisation Rules, and in relation to a licensable body is a reference to its HOFA;

COLP 

means compliance officer for legal practice in accordance with rule 8.5 of the SRA Authorisation Rules and in relation to a licensable body is a reference to its HOLP;

compliance officer

is a reference to a body's COLP or its COFA;

court

means any court, tribunal or enquiry of England and Wales, or a British court martial, or any court of another jurisdiction;

discrimination

has the meaning set out in the Equality Act 2010, being when person (A) discriminates against another (B) if, because of a protected characteristic, A treats B less favourably than A treats or would treat others;

fit and proper

satisfies the requirement of Schedule 13 of the LSA in order that an individual may be an authorised role holder;

LSA 

means the Legal Services Act 2007;

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;

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; and

(iii)

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

Principles

means the Principles in the SRA Handbook;

QLTSR

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

SA  

means the Solicitors Act 1974;

solicitor

means a person who has been admitted as a solicitorof 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 Authorisation Rules

means the SRA Authorisation Rules for Legal Services Bodies and Licensable Bodies 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;

UK

means United Kingdom;

us

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

you

means any individual intending to be a solicitor, and any person seeking authorisation as an authorised role holder under the Authorisation Rules, and "your" and "yourself" should be construed accordingly.

3

In this test, the reference in the preamble to those seeking to become authorised role holders in accordance with rules 8.5 and 8.6 of the SRA Authorisation Rules, fulfilling the duties under Sections 89, 90, 91 and 92 of the LSA shall have no effect until such time as the Society is designated as a licensing authority under Part 1 of Schedule 10 to the LSA.

4

This test shall not apply to licensed bodies until such time as the Society is designated as a licensing authority under Part 1 of Schedule 10 to the LSA and all definitions shall be construed accordingly.

5

Part 2 of this test shall have no effect until such time as the Society is designated as a licensing authority under Part 1 of Schedule 10 to the LSA.