The Law Society is pressing the Ministry of Justice to make an urgent amendment to the Legal Services Act to prevent non-lawyers with spent criminal convictions from becoming owners of alternative business structures.

Society chief executive Desmond Hudson has written to justice secretary Kenneth Clarke urging him to take action before the final provisions of the legislation, which will allow for external ownership of law firms, come into force in October.

Under current rules, anyone seeking admission as a solicitor and any non-lawyer seeking to become a manager in a legal disciplinary practice must disclose full details of all past convictions, no matter how old, because they are exempted from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act.

However, this exemption does not apply to non-lawyers seeking to become owners of ABSs, meaning that they would not be compelled to reveal their spent convictions.

In his letter to Clarke, Hudson said the Society was surprised that the government had not acted to address the issue, given the concerns raised by the Conservative party while in opposition.

He quoted justice minister Jonathan Djanogly, who when in opposition had said that the ‘fit to own’ provisions were crucial to ensure public protection, and needed to be in place before external ownership of ABSs could be safely permitted to ‘avoid the spectre of law firms being owned by criminal elements’.

Hudson warned of the ‘severe’ consequences of failing to deal with the issue, which would leave an individual who had previously been imprisoned for fraud able to conceal this when seeking approval to own an ABS.

Russell Wallman, director of government policy at the Law Society, said: ‘The question of fitness to own is fundamental to the operation of ABSs, and it beggars belief that the MoJ would be in any doubt whether it will ensure that all convictions are disclosed.

‘It’s bizarre that the government hasn’t done anything to change this yet; there is no rational explanation. I can’t see that the MoJ will want to stand up for the rights of criminals to own law firms.’

A spokeswoman for the Solicitors Regulation Authority said that to fulfil its role as a risk-based regulator it was seeking an assurance from the MoJ that spent convictions of potential owners will have to be disclosed.

An MoJ spokesman said the Legal Services Board has submitted a business case seeking to have additional provisions added to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act Exceptions Order, but a decision had not yet been made.