SRA ready to hold its own public disciplinary hearings

The SRA will exercise the power to hold its own public hearings to determine whether a solicitor or firm has committed misconduct.

The regulator said this week that hearings will be ‘rare’ but will be considered where cases are not being referred to the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal.

The oversight regulator, the Legal Services Board, has approved the SRA’s amendments to its regulatory arrangements to accommodate the recent increase in fining powers from £2,000 to £25,000. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill further includes scope for the SRA to issue unlimited fines against solicitors and firms caught up in economic crime.

The SRA has previously had the power to hold its own hearings but with such low fining powers it has never exercised them. However, new guidance published by the regulator states that there may occasions when it convenes its own hearings for cases that do not require being sent to the tribunal, for cases where the fine is within the SRA’s remit.

SRA adjudicators will decide if there should be a full hearing held before an adjudication panel and in which witnesses provide oral evidence and are subject to cross-examination.

In-house hearings will be approved where there are material disputes of fact which cannot be determined without one, or where there is an exceptional public interest in matters being ventilated in public. Matters raising new or unusual issues, or involving allegations of lack of integrity, would be eligible for an SRA hearing, although sexual misconduct allegations will almost always be heard by the SDT.

The hearing may be held in public and may be publicised in advance through the SRA website.

The SRA said: ‘We anticipate that hearings will be rare. Where we consider that a hearing should be held, we will always make a referral to the SDT if this is possible given their established role as a body which is designed to administer hearings and their considerable experience carrying out this role.

‘However, there are certain circumstances in which it may be necessary for us to hold a hearing in the interests of justice.’

An adjudication panel will normally comprise a chair and two other members, in which case decisions are made by simple majority. Occasionally panels will consist of two members, in which case the chair has the casting vote. There will always be at least one lay member and one legally qualified member on each panel and adjudication panels will usually be supported by a panel adviser who will not take part in the decision-making process.

Meanwhile, the SRA has also confirmed it plans to publish details of solicitors’ salaries where they are subject to fines, unless the respondent can show that would be disproportionate.

The regulator plans to issue income-based fines which will mean there will be variation in the levels of fine imposed for the same breach. As such both the level of the fine and the percentage of income considered is required to get an accurate picture of the level of fine imposed. The SRA argues that this approach will ensure transparency around fines to uphold public confidence and create a credible deterrence.

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