The solicitors’ regulator has agreed to back proposals for a Quality Assurance Scheme despite some fears about how solicitors will be assessed.

The board of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) yesterday endorsed plans to accredit advocates working in criminal cases.

The scheme, brought forward by a Joint Advocacy Group also consisting of the Bar Standards Board and Ilex Professional Standards, has been introduced to encourage high standards in the profession and stamp out poor practice.

Following the SRA’s backing, the scheme will now be submitted to the Legal Services Board for approval in July, with the first assessment beginning from next March.

But some solicitors are known to be uneasy about compulsory assessment by the judiciary, and SRA board member Mark Humphries raised those concerns.

‘Sometimes an advocate may need to stand up to a judge, which is the sort of situation which can put a judge in a particularly bad mood,’ he said.

‘If, as some of these proposals suggest, that judge has to evaluate the advocate, there is the danger that the scheme will simply not work or there will be apparent bias on the part of the evaluating judge.

'That is something we need to be very careful to guard against.’

He was also worried about the judiciary taking on the burden of evaluating advocates on top of their existing work, with no extra recompense or assistance to take account of the additional responsibilities.

Board members in general agreed the Quality Assurance Scheme will improve the service provided to the public, and will allow advocates to benchmark themselves against the required standards.

SRA chairman Charles Plant told board members a scheme was needed to ensure all advocates reached the standards expected of them.

He said there were certain issues that needed to be addressed in the coming months, particularly the workload for judges carrying out the evaluations.

Plant added that if there were any outstanding issues or concerns about evaluations and training then they would be raised with Lord Justice Thomas, who is chairing the the QASA advisory group.

There may also be a request to alter the stipulation that assessments are carried out in the advocate’s first two cases after moving up a level.