Solicitors Act 1974

SupplementaryE+W

[F186ARulesE+W

(1)Rules made by the Society under this Act may —

(a)make provision generally or subject to exceptions or only in relation to specified cases;

(b)make different provision for different cases or circumstances or for different purposes.

(2)Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1), any rules prescribing a fee may provide for that fee to be reduced or waived in such circumstances as may be specified in the rules.]

87 Interpretation.E+W

(1)In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires,—

• F2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• [F4 “ bank ” means the Bank of England [F5or a person] (other than a building society) who has permission under [F6Part 4A] of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to accept deposits F7...;

• [F8 “ building society ” means a building society within the meaning of the Building Societies Act 1986 F9 . . .. ]

• “ the Charter ” means the Royal Charter dated 26th February 1845, whereby the Society was incorporated, together with the Royal Charters supplemental to it dated respectively 26th November 1872, 4th June 1903, 2nd June 1909 and 10th March 1954;

• “ client ” includes—

  (a)

  in relation to contentious business, any person who as a principal or on behalf of another person retains or employs, or is about to retain or employ, a solicitor, and any person who is or may be liable to pay a solicitor’s costs;

  (b)

  in relation to non–contentious business, any person who, as a principal or on behalf of another, or as a trustee or executor, or in any other capacity, has power, express or implied, to retain or employ, and retains or employs or is about to retain or employ, a solicitor, and any person for the time being liable to pay to a solicitor for his services any costs;

• “ client account ” means an account [F10 subject to rules under section 32(1)(a) ];

• “ contentious business ” means business done, whether as solicitor or advocate, in or for the purposes of proceedings begun before a court or before an arbitrator F11 . . ., not being business which falls within the definition of non–contentious or common form probate business contained in [F12 section 128 of the M1 [F13 Senior Courts ] Act 1981 ];

• “ contentious business agreement ” means an agreement made in pursuance of section 59;

• F14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “ costs ” includes fees, charges, disbursements, expenses and remuneration;

• “ the Council ” means the Council of the Society elected in accordance with the provisions of the Charter and this Act;

• F15. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “ indemnity rules ” means rules under section 37;

• F17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “ local law society ” means a society which is for the time being recognised by the Council as representative of solicitors in some particular part of England and Wales;

• “ non–contentious business ” means any business done as a solicitor which is not contentious business as defined by this subsection;

• [F18“officer”, in relation to a limited liability partnership, means a member of the limited liability partnership;]

• F17. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “ practising certificate ” has the meaning assigned to it by section 1;

• F16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “ the roll ” means the list of solicitors of the [F13 Senior Courts ] kept by the Society under section 6;

• “Secretary” of the Society includes any deputy or person appointed temporarily to perform the duties of that office;

• “ the Society ” means the Law Society, that is to say, the Society incorporated and regulated by the Charter;

• “ sole solicitor ” means a solicitor who is the sole principal in a practice [F19(other than an incorporated practice)] ;

• F20...

• [F21“ solicitor ” means solicitor of the [F13 Senior Courts ];

• “ solicitor in Scotland ” means a person enrolled or deemed to have been enrolled as a solicitor in pursuance of the M2 Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1933;

• F22. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• F16. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

• “ training regulations ” means regulations under section 2;

• “ the Tribunal ” means the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal;

• “ trust ” includes an implied or constructive trust and a trust where the trustee has a beneficial interest in the trust property, and also includes the duties incident to the office of a personal representative, and “ trustee ” shall be construed accordingly;

• “ unqualified person ” means a person who is not qualified under section 1 to act as a solicitor.

[F23(1A)In this Act “authorised insurer” means—

(a)a person who has permission under [F24Part 4A] of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 to effect or carry out contracts of insurance of a relevant class;

(b)a person who carries on an insurance market activity, within the meaning of section 316(3) of that Act;

F25(c). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F25(d). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(1B)A contract of insurance is of a relevant class for the purposes of subsection (1A) if it insures against risks arising from—

(a)accident;

(b)credit;

(c)legal expenses;

(d)general liability to third parties;

(e)sickness;

(f)suretyship;

(g)miscellaneous financial loss.

(1C)The definition of “bank” in subsection (1) and subsections (1A) and (1B) must be read with—

(a)section 22 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000;

(b)any relevant order under that section; and

(c)Schedule 2 to that Act.]

(2)In this Act—

(a)references to the removal of a solicitor’s name from the roll are references to its removal at his own request [F26or in pursuance of regulations under section 28(3A);]

(b)references to striking a solicitor’s name off the roll are references to striking it off [F27as a disciplinary sanction]; and

(c)references to removal or striking off include references to deleting an entry made by means of a computer by whatever means are appropriate.

(3)In this Act, except where otherwise indicated—

(a)a reference to a numbered Part, section or Schedule is a reference to the Part or section of, or the Schedule to, this Act so numbered;

(b)a reference in a section to a numbered subsection is a reference to the subsection of that section so numbered;

(c)a reference in a section, subsection or Schedule to a numbered paragraph is a reference to the paragraph of that section, subsection or Schedule so numbered; and

(d)a reference in a paragraph to a numbered sub–paragraph is a reference to the sub–paragraph of that paragraph so numbered.

(4)Except where the context otherwise requires, references in this Act to any enactment shall be construed as references to that enactment as amended or applied by or under any other enactment, including this Act.]]

88 Saving for solicitors to public departments and City of London.E+W

(1)Nothing in this Act shall prejudice or affect any rights or privileges of the solicitor to the Treasury, any other public department, the Church Commissioners or the Duchy of Cornwall, or require any such officer or any clerk or officer appointed to act for him to be admitted or enrolled or to hold a practising certificate in any case where it would not have been necessary for him to be admitted or enrolled or to hold such a certificate if this Act had not been passed.

[F28(1A)The exemption from the requirement to hold a practising certificate conferred by subsection (1) above shall not apply to solicitors who are Crown Prosecutors.]

(2)Sections 31 and 32(1) shall not apply to, and nothing in this Act shall prejudice or affect any rights or privileges which immediately before the commencement of this Act attached to the office of, the Solicitor of the City of London.

89 Consequential amendments, repeals, savings, etc.E+W

X1(1)The enactments specified in Schedule 3 shall have effect subject to the amendments there specified, being amendments consequential upon the provisions of this Act.

X1(2)The enactments specified in Schedule 4 are hereby repealed to the extent specified in the third column of that Schedule.

(3)In so far as any instrument or other document made, issued, served or kept or treated as having been or having effect as if made, issued, served or kept, or other thing done or treated as having been or having effect as if done, under or for the purposes of any of the enactments repealed by this Act (in this section referred to as “the repealed enactments”) could have been made, issued, served, kept or done under or for the purposes of a corresponding provision of this Act, it shall not be invalidated by the repeal but shall have effect as if made, issued, served, kept or done under or for the purposes of that corresponding provision; and anything begun under any of the repealed enactments may be continued under any corresponding provision of this Act as if begun under that provision.

(4)Any enactment or other document referring to any of the repealed enactments shall, so far as may be necessary for preserving its effect, be construed as referring to this Act or to the corresponding provision of this Act.

(5)References in any enactment or instrument to the disciplinary committee constituted under section 46 of the M3Solicitors Act 1957 shall be construed as references to the Tribunal.

(6)References in any enactment to solicitors, attorneys or proctors, or to the registrar of attorneys and solicitors or the registrar of solicitors, shall be construed as references to solicitors and to the Society respectively.

(7)F29. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(8)Nothing in this Act shall be taken as prejudicing the operation of [F30sections 16(1) and 17(2)(a) of the M4Interpretation Act 1978] (which relates to the effect of repeals).

90 Short title, commencement and extent.E+W

(1)This Act may be cited as the Solicitors Act 1974.

(2)This Act shall come into force on such day as the Lord Chancellor may by order made by statutory instrument appoint, not being earlier than the first day on which all the provisions of the M5Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1974 are in force.

(3)If any order made under section 19(7) of the M6Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1974 makes any savings from the effect of any provision of that Act which it brings into force, the order under subsection (2) may make corresponding savings from the effect of the corresponding provision of this Act.

(4)The provisions of this Act extend to England and Wales only, with the exception of—

(a)section 4(4) and the repeal of section 5(3) of the M7Solicitors Act 1957, which extend to Scotland;

(b)section 29 and the repeal of section I of the M8Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1974, which extend to Northern Ireland;

(c)sections 5(3) and 86, F31. . . and the repeals of section 5(2) of the Solicitors Act 1957 and paragraphs 1 and 5 of Schedule 2 to the M9Solicitors (Amendment) Act 1974, all of which extend both to Scotland and to Northern Ireland.