Closed Consultation
Regulatory decision-making and adjudication
3 October 2007
This consultation is now closed.
A consultation—on a series of proposals relating to regulatory decision-making and adjudication—ended on 7 May 2007.
A brief report to the SRA Board on responses to this consultation is available to download at the Law Society's website.
Background information is available below.
- Read the proposals in outline.
- Review the consultation questionnaire.
- Download a series of propositions for decision-making (approved by our board in October 2006).
- Consultation enquiries – compliance.consultations@sra.org.uk
Proposals in outline
1.
In 2006 a review of decision-making was undertaken by the board of what is now the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA). The review made the following key findings:
- There are wide variations in all aspects of regulatory decision-making across what is now the SRA. These variations reflect the different organisational histories of the component parts of the SRA.
- There are variations in how regulatory decisions are made and the level at which they are made.
- There are variations in relation to such matters as written criteria, monitoring of quality and recording of decisions.
- There is no standard framework for the delegation of decision-making powers.
- There is no single system for formal adjudications. The present system is quite complex, and includes a number of separate internal adjudication bodies.
- What evidence is easily available does not point to poor quality of regulatory decision-making.
- There is an opportunity for substantial rationalisation in the form of common standards for decision-making and a unified adjudication system.
2.
Following the review, a series of ten propositions for the SRA's regulatory decision-making was developed.
3.
The aim of the propositions is to ensure that
- the quality of the SRA's decision-making is maintained and improved
- decision-making complies with the government's principles of good regulation
- decisions are made within a clear and consistent framework
- the process and its outcomes commands the confidence of the public, profession and other regulators
4.
The SRA believes that, to maintain and improve the quality of regulatory decision-making, it is critical to have
- clear and transparent criteria
- well-trained decision-makers
- documented monitoring and audit processes
5.
The SRA intends to replace the current complicated internal adjudication system with a single Panel of Adjudicators. This will be separate from the SRA's case working staff. It will consist of a mix of full-time and part-time members, and will include non-lawyers. It will be mainly–but not solely—concerned with determining appeals from decisions made by competent operational staff.
Questionnaire
(The questionnaire is included below for information purposes only. The deadline for submission of responses was 7 May 2007.)
Question 1
The decision-making propositions developed by the SRA are designed to be applied across the organisation in order to provide effective and consistent regulatory decision-making processes.
Are there any additional propositions which should be included?
- Yes
- No
If yes, please mention them in the box below.
Are any of these propositions inappropriate?
- Yes
- No
If yes, please mention them in the box below.
Question 2
The following will help the SRA to improve the quality of its regulatory decision-making:
- Clear and transparent decision-making criteria
- Well-trained decision-makers
- Documented monitoring and audit processes
Are there any other elements which you think are critical to the quality of regulatory decisions?
- Yes
- No
If yes, please mention them in the box below.
Question 3
The SRA believes that most regulatory decisions should be made by operational staff at an appropriate level. In cases where these decisions carry rights of appeal, the appeal will be dealt with by the separate Panel of Adjudicators. However, there may be some types of decision which should always be made by members of the panel (because of the seriousness of the proposed action).
Please say whether you think that the following decisions should always be made by members of the Panel of Adjudicators:
—The SRA's exercise of the statutory power to intervene into (close down) a firm of solicitors
- Yes
- No
—A decision by the SRA to impose a disciplinary sanction on a solicitor which will be published
- Yes
- No
Please use the box below to make any comments about the proposal that most initial decisions should be made by operational staff, and say whether there are any other types of regulatory decision which you think should always be made by the panel alone.