Committees

Justice Committee to hold evidence sessions on the regulation of the legal professions

14 November 2023

The Justice Committee will take evidence from professional bodies and regulators during two evidence sessions in Parliament on Tuesday, November 28 and Tuesday, December 5. The Committee would like to invite suggestions for issues to raise ahead of its two scheduled evidence sessions on the subject.

Representatives from the Bar Council, Bar Standards Board, CILEX (Chartered Institute of Legal Executives), CILEx Regulation, The Law Society, Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and Legal Services Board will answer questions from MPs.

The Justice Committee would like to hear from anyone wishing to raise any issues or questions relating to the regulation of the legal professions ahead of the planned sessions.

This includes: the performance of the regulators, the professional bodies’ relationships with the regulators, the legal and institutional framework that underpins regulation, the role of regulation in supporting access to justice, how to improve the service provided to consumers of legal services and the health of the professions.

Legal aid is outside of the scope of these sessions. The Committee is also not able to investigate individual or personal cases. The Committee last examined the regulation of legal services in June 2016.

Emails can be sent to justicecom@parliament.uk by Wednesday 22 November.

Witnesses  

Evidence session One: Tuesday 28 November. Witnesses (in person) from 2:30pm 

  • 2:30pm-3:00pm: Nick Vineall KC, Chair of the Bar, Bar Council
  • 3:00pm-3:30pm: Kathryn Stone OBE, Chair of the Bar Standards Board and Mark Neale, Director-General of the Bar Standards Board
  • 3:30pm-4:00pm: Professor Chris Bones, Chair of CILEX and Linda Ford, CEO of CILEX
  • 4:00pm-4:30pm: Jonathan Rees, Chair of CILEx Regulation and John Barwick, CEO of CILEx Regulation

Evidence session Two: Tuesday 5 December. Witnesses (in person) from 2:15pm

  • 2:15pm-2:45pm: Nick Emmerson, President of The Law Society
  • 2:45pm-3:15pm: Anna Bradley, Chair of the Solicitors Regulation Authority
  • 3:15pm-3:45pm: Alan Kershaw, Chair of the Legal Services Board and Matthew Hill, Chief Executive of the Legal Services Board

Further information

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