The Solicitors Regulation Authority was tight-lipped today on whether it is pressing ahead with plans to regulate authorised and non-authorised members of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX).

The SRA's board met yesterday to decide – but this morning the regulator was unable to give any indication on when the board's decision will be announced.

The Law Society declared ahead of yesterday’s meeting that it expected the regulator to listen to ‘widespread opposition’ to the proposals, which includes Chancery Lane, current regulator CILEx Regulation and CILEX members.

Society chief executive Ian Jeffery said: ‘The SRA must seriously consider whether the time, resources and management focus required to integrate CILEX regulation into the SRA is wise, given the other priorities the SRA faces in light of the collapses of Axiom Ince, Metamorph, Kingly and the SSB Group. Now is not the right time for the SRA to seek to widen its regulatory scope or take on additional responsibilities.’

Earlier this year, the House of Commons justice select committee said it was sceptical of the argument that re-delegation would represent a simplification that would help consumers.

Jeffery said: 'Any change would negatively impact on consumers’ ability to clearly understand the legal choices available to them and to choose the right legal provider, especially where their legal needs are complex.'

Plans for SRA to regulator CILEX members first emerged in July 2022, when a bitter stand-off between CILEX and CILEx Regulation flared into open civil war. The initial proposal saw the SRA regulating CILEX members authorised to carry out reserved legal activities. The SRA brought forward plans to extend its reach over CILEX members, to include paralegals and students, following a request from CILEX.

 

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