That the Grand Committee do report to the House that it has considered the Registered Foreign Lawyers Order 2009.

Relevant document: 12th Report from the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments.

In moving the Motion I shall speak also to the draft Legal Services Act 2007 (Registered European Lawyers) Order 2009. These orders update the regulatory framework for foreign lawyers. They extend and increase the powers of the Law Society and the Solicitors Regulation Authority to two categories of foreign lawyers: registered European lawyers and registered foreign lawyers. Registered European lawyers are lawyers covered by the establishment directive who have qualified in another EU state and who seek to practise in the United Kingdom on a permanent basis. Registered foreign lawyers are legal professionals qualified in another jurisdiction not covered by the establishment directive.

Many rules applicable to solicitors, such as the solicitors’ code of conduct, are already applied to both registered foreign and registered European lawyers. These orders update and extend the application of such rules, reflecting the amendments introduced by the Legal Services Act 2007.

Before my noble friend concludes on this densely written legalese, can he tell us how many lawyers are defined as foreign and how many as European?

I am sure that I shall be able to do so in my winding-up speech.

Amendments made in these orders reflect the changes made to the regulation of the legal professions, in particular solicitors in England and Wales, as a result of the Legal Services Act, and bring a consistency of approach to the Law Society’s regulation of all lawyers registered with it, not only solicitors. The 2007 Act, in particular Schedule 16, introduces a number of changes to the way that solicitors in England and Wales practise and are regulated. The Government have already begun to commence the provisions in the Act. For example, 31 March 2009 saw the introduction of legal disciplinary practices which allow lawyers and non-lawyers to form practices that provide legal services. Registered European and registered foreign lawyers are both entitled to benefit from these new structures by potentially collaborating with other lawyers and non-lawyers in a legal practice. It is, though, essential that targeted, proportionate and consumer-focused regulation go hand in hand with these reforms.

Further reforms under the Act are due to be introduced in July to the Law Society’s regime of practising certificates, its powers of investigation and the routes of appeal available to solicitors against decisions of the society, among others. In introducing these reforms, there is need for consistency with the society’s approach to foreign lawyers. These orders achieve consistency by applying the Law Society’s powers to rebuke or fine solicitors to registered foreign and European lawyers. This will enable the Law Society to impose a fine of up to £2,000 on these individuals for minor incidents of misconduct or failure to comply with Law Society rules. They also apply the powers used in investigating the conduct of solicitors to investigations of the conduct of registered foreign and European lawyers and extend to them the offences which may be committed during the course of an investigation.

The orders align the powers and jurisdiction of the solicitors’ disciplinary tribunal in respect of solicitors with those for registered foreign and European lawyers. They prohibit the unauthorised employment of foreign and European lawyers who have been struck off the Law Society’s register. They also align the Law Society’s powers to impose conditions and to suspend solicitors’ practising certificates in relation to the registration of foreign and European lawyers.

Additionally, the new regime of sole solicitor endorsement will now apply to registered European lawyers. This creates a separate applications regime and approval process for solicitors seeking to act as sole practitioners, acknowledging the greater responsibility that accompanies these powers. This regime is not applied to registered foreign lawyers who may not practise as sole practitioners.

Finally, these orders acknowledge the transfer of appellate functions from the Master of the Rolls to the High Court, which is consistent with the approach of the 2007 Act. Similarly, these instruments amend other instruments or legislation to ensure consistency with regard to appeal routes and grounds. It is proposed that these orders come into force on 1 July 2009. This is to coincide with the aforementioned amendments, under the 2007 Act, to the Law Society’s powers of investigation. It will be the fifth commencement order under that Act.

These orders form just one part of the process in realising the benefits of the 2007 Act—benefits for both consumers and the legal sector itself. To maximise these benefits it is essential that a balance is struck between reforming the legal market and ensuring proportionate and effective regulation. I am confident that these orders address this balance successfully, placing consumer confidence and consumer protection at the heart of the reforms. I commend these orders to the Committee. I beg to move.

I thank the noble Lord, Lord Tunnicliffe, for introducing the first two orders before us this afternoon. When these were debated in another place, my honourable friend Mr Bellingham made it quite clear that we had broadly supported the general thrust of the Legal Services Bill. I am grateful that I was not that actively involved in that legislation as it passed through the House, but no doubt the noble Lord saw something of it. As I say, we broadly supported it. It is important that we continue to ensure that the United Kingdom, particularly London, remains a very important centre for world-class legal services, which it has been in the past and will be in the future. We hope that these orders will make it easier to continue to attract legal practitioners, and those who make use of legal services, to London.

I want to pick up on a couple of points raised in the noble Lord’s comments and in the comments of my honourable friend in another place concerning the whole question of reciprocity. Am I right in thinking that, as far as the EU is concerned, we will now have total reciprocity between lawyers in the United Kingdom and lawyers in all the other 26 EU countries, or are there differences between us as to where there will not be reciprocity? Can the noble Lord expand a little on what his honourable friend Bridget Prentice said in another place about reciprocity with other parts of the world? She referred to the negotiations which she has been involved in with the Indian Government and, more importantly, with the Bar Association of India and various regional Indian Bar Associations. However, other parts of the world are equally important. I would be grateful if the Minister could expand on the degree of reciprocity for lawyers working in one country or the other and what the Government are doing to assist that.

I am grateful to the Minister for his introduction of these two orders. I declare an interest as a practising lawyer. As I have spent considerable time practising in Hong Kong, Asia and the West Indies, I have some experience of practising abroad. We welcome these orders. We think it right that foreign and European lawyers who are registered in this country should be subject to the same degrees of discipline and control as UK-approved lawyers.

The noble Lord, Lord Henley, raised the issue of reciprocity. I, too, would be interested to know whether it is possible for a lawyer from England and Wales to practise without hindrance in Scotland and Europe and the other parts of the world from which we have allowed registered foreign lawyers to come here. The noble Lord, Lord Jones, has raised the question of how many lawyers we have registered—and from what parts of the world, I would add to that—so that we can see the scope of the issue. I am most grateful to the noble Lord for his introduction of these orders.

In reply to my noble friend Lord Jones, according to the latest statistics from the Law Society, there are currently 312 registered European lawyers and 1,780 registered foreign lawyers in England and Wales. As such, the proposed order will impact on a limited number of practitioners.

I thank the noble Lords, Lord Henley and Lord Thomas of Gresford, for their questions on Europe and general reciprocity. The establishment directive ensures that solicitors and barristers who have qualified in the UK receive the same opportunities to practise in other member states as registered European lawyers have in seeking to practise permanently in the UK. However, I would offer a slight caveat there because some minor derogations apply to European lawyers in the UK; I believe that there is one around probate. I am sure that those minor derogations must also occur in other countries where the establishment directive has been accepted. So with that slight caveat to the overall statement, the answer, relatively simply, is yes.

The Government are keen to ensure that lawyers who qualify in the UK are able to practise in as many jurisdictions as possible. In an increasingly international market, this is crucial to the reputation and development of providers of legal services.

Fruitful discussions have taken place with the Bar Association of India and the Bar Associations in some of the Indian regions about opening up their market. Slow progress is being made, although the Law Society is optimistic that opportunities for UK and Indian firms to work together will increase in the light of the recent Indian elections. Earlier this month the Law Society held a UK-India legal practice conference, and the Government look forward to hearing what progress can be made in the light of the discussions that took place.

Being among lawyers, I should like to offer a final caveat. I may have got a subtlety wrong. If I have, I shall write to noble Lords.