Legal Services Act 2007

76Cancellation of designation as licensing authority by order

(1)The Lord Chancellor may by order cancel an approved regulator’s designation as a licensing authority—

(a)in relation to all the reserved legal activities in relation to which it is designated, or

(b)in relation to one or more, but not all, of those reserved legal activities,

with effect from a date specified in the order.

(2)But the Lord Chancellor may only make an order under subsection (1) in accordance with a recommendation made by the Board under subsection (3) or (5).

(3)The Board must recommend that an order is made cancelling an approved regulator’s designation as a licensing authority in relation to one or more reserved legal activities, if—

(a)the approved regulator applies to the Board for such a recommendation to be made,

(b)the application is made in such form and manner as may be prescribed by rules made by the Board, and is accompanied by the prescribed fee, and

(c)the approved regulator publishes a notice giving details of the application in accordance with such requirements as may be specified in rules made by the Board.

(4)In this section “the prescribed fee”, in relation to an application, means the fee specified in or determined in accordance with rules made by the Board, with the consent of the Lord Chancellor.

(5)The Board may recommend that an order is made cancelling an approved regulator’s designation as a licensing authority in relation to one or more reserved legal activities if it is satisfied—

(a)that an act or omission of the licensing authority (or a series of such acts or omissions) has had, or is likely to have, an adverse impact on one or more of the regulatory objectives, and

(b)that it is appropriate to cancel the approved regulator’s designation in relation to the activity or activities in question in all the circumstances of the case (including in particular the impact of cancelling the designation on the other regulatory objectives).

(6)The Board may not determine that it is appropriate to cancel an approved regulator’s designation as a licensing authority in relation to an activity or activities unless it is satisfied that the matter cannot be adequately addressed by the Board exercising the powers available to it under sections 31 to 43.

(7)Part 2 of Schedule 10 makes further provision about the making of recommendations under subsection (5).

(8)If the Lord Chancellor decides not to make an order in response to a recommendation made under subsection (3) or (5), the Lord Chancellor must give the Board notice of the decision and the reasons for it.

(9)The Lord Chancellor must publish a notice given under subsection (8).