Solicitors Act 1965
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1965 c. 31 |
Solicitors Act 1965
1965 CHAPTER 31
An Act to extend the powers of The Law Society in relation to property in the control or possession of certain solicitors and other persons, including the distribution of clients' money; to enable grants to be made out of the Compensation Fund established under the Solicitors Act 1957 in additional circumstances and to provide for an additional payment into that Fund by solicitors; to confer further powers upon The Law Society to make regulations with respect to the education and training of persons seeking admission as solicitors; to make provision with regard to interest on clients' money; to amend the provisions of the said Act of 1957 relating to the admission of overseas solicitors, the applying for and issue of practising certificates and the application of fees payable thereon, accountants' certificates, the employment by solicitors of certain persons, proceedings before the disciplinary committee and appeals therefrom, restoration to the roll, the authentication of documents and local law societies; to provide for the revision of certain fees payable to The Law Society and certain penalties and for the recovery of moneys in certain cases; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
[5th August 1965]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
Admission as solicitor
1 Additional section to principal Act as to persons seeking admission as solicitors
1. The following section shall be inserted after section 2 of the principal Act:—
2A ‘Power of Society to make regulations as to the education and training of persons seeking admission as solicitors.
(1) The Society may with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls make regulations with respect to the legal education, training (including, if the Society thinks fit, service under articles) and examinations to be undergone by a person seeking admission as a solicitor and the qualifications and duties of the person undertaking the education or training of such person, and in particular, but without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, the conduct, duties and responsibilities towards one another of the persons undertaking and undergoing education or training, including the discharge of articles and the termination of training.
(2) Any such regulations may make different provisions for different circumstances and may include provision for the charging by the Society, and the application, of fees.’’
2 Amendment of section 3 of principal Act.
2. The following subsection shall be substituted for section 3(1) of the principal Act (which relates to admission as a solicitor):—
(1) Subject to the next following section and to section 20(3) of the Justices of the Peace Act 1949 (which relates to the admission as solicitors of certain persons who have served as assistant to a justices' clerk), no person shall be admitted as a solicitor unless he has obtained a certificate from the Society that the Society is satisfied that he has complied with the requirements prescribed in the regulations referred to in section 2A of this Act and that he is morally fit to be a solicitor of the Supreme Court.’
3 Amendment of section 4 of principal Act.
3. In section 4(2) of the principal Act (which relates to admission as solicitors of certain overseas solicitors), for the words ‘in a territory such as is mentioned in subsection (4) of this section, Her Majesty in Council is satisfied on the report of a Secretary of State’ there shall be substituted the words ‘in any territory (including a part of a territory) which is part of the Commonwealth outside the United Kingdom, Her Majesty in Council is satisfied’.
Practising certificates
4 Re-enactment of sections 9 and 10 of principal Act.
(1) The following sections shall be substituted for sections 9 and 10 of the principal Act (which relate to practising certificates):—
9 ‘Application for practising certificate.
(1) Application by a solicitor for a practising certificate shall be made in such form or forms and in accordance with such requirements as may be prescribed by regulations made by the Society with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls.
(2) In the case of every application received by the Society under the foregoing subsection, the Society shall cause to be entered in a register kept for that purpose the applicant's full name, his place or places of business and the date of his admission, and any person may inspect that register during office hours without payment.
(3) If in, or in relation to, an application under this section any person makes any false statement material to the application, a complaint in respect of that statement may be made by or on behalf of the Society to the disciplinary committee.
10 Issue, date and expiry of practising certificate.
(1) Subject to the provisions of the two next following sections of this Act, the Society shall on being satisfied that—
(a ) the name of the applicant is on the roll;
(b ) he is not for the time being suspended from practice; and
(c ) the application referred to in the last foregoing section complies with the provisions of that section and of any regulations made thereunder,
within twenty-one days of the receipt of such application by the Society, issue to the applicant a practising certificate in accordance with, and in such form as may be prescribed by, such regulations as may be made by the Society with the concurrence of the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls.
(2) Every practising certificate issued after the 31st October in any year and before the 1st January next following shall bear the date of the 1st November in that year, and every other practising certificate shall bear the date of the day on which it is issued.
(3) Every practising certificate shall have effect from the beginning of the day of which it bears the date, and that date shall be entered by the Society on the register referred to in the last foregoing section and on the roll.
(4) Every practising certificate shall expire at the end of the 31st October next after it is issued:
Provided that, where the name of a solicitor is removed from or struck off the roll, the practising certificate, if any, of that solicitor for the time being in force shall expire forthwith and the date of such expiration shall be entered on the said register.’
(2) Every practising certificate in force on the date on which the provisions of subsection (1) of this section shall come into operation shall be deemed to expire on the 31st October next following such date:
Provided that, where the name of a solicitor is removed from or struck off the roll, the practising certificate of that solicitor shall expire forthwith.
5 Amendment of section 11 of principal Act.
(1) In section 11(1) of the principal Act (which relates to the fees payable on the issue of practising certificates and the application of such fees) for the words ‘in respect of each practising certificate issued by it’ there shall be substituted the words ‘in respect of, and before the issue of, each practising certificate to be issued by it’ and the words from ‘and the Society’ to the end of the subsection shall be omitted.
(2) For section 11(2) of the principal Act there shall be substituted the following subsections:—
(2) Every fee received by the Society under this section shall be applied in such manner and to such extent as the Society may think fit for the purposes of the Society including the facilitating of the acquisition of legal knowledge.
(3) The Society shall submit annually to the judges mentioned in subsection (1) of this section an account of all such fees and of their application and cause a copy of the account to be deposited at the Society's hall for inspection by any solicitor.’
6 Re-enactment of section 12 of principal Act.
6. The following section shall be substituted for section 12 of the principal Act (which relates to the discretion of the Society with respect to the issue of practising certificates in special cases):—
12 ‘Discretion of Society with respect to issue of practising certificates in special cases.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this section and to section 15 of this Act, the next following subsection shall have effect where a solicitor applies for a practising certificate—
(a ) for the first time; or
(b ) not having held a practising certificate free of conditions since the date of his admission; or
(c ) when on the first day of the period to which the practising certificate would, if granted, relate, a period of twelve months or more will have elapsed since he held a practising certificate in force; or
(d ) after the disciplinary committee have ordered a penalty or costs to be paid by him or that he be reprimanded; or
(e ) after he has been invited by the Society to give an explanation in respect of any matter affecting his conduct and has failed to give an explanation in respect of that matter which the Council regard as sufficient and satisfactory, and has been notified in writing by the...
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