Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980

60A [F1 Registered foreign lawyers] S

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, solicitors and incorporated practices may enter into multi-national practices with registered foreign lawyers.

(2) The Council shall maintain a register of foreign lawyers, and may make rules with regard to registration; and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, such rules may include provision as to—

(a) the manner in which applications for registration are to be made;

[F2 (aa) the information which shall accompany such applications;]

(b) the fees payable in respect of such applications;

(c) conditions which may be imposed in respect of registration; and

(d) the period for which any such registration is to run.

(3) Section 34(2) and (3) apply to rules made under subsection (2) as they apply to rules made under that section.

[F3 (4) A foreign lawyer may apply to the Council to be registered as such for the purposes of—

(a) subsection (1); or

(b) having an interest in a licensed legal services provider as a solicitor investor within the meaning given by section 67(6) of the 2010 Act.

(4ZA) Where an application is made under subsection (4), the Council are to enter the lawyer’s name on the register of foreign lawyers if they are satisfied that the legal profession of which the applicant is a member is so regulated as to make it appropriate for the applicant to be registered for those purposes.]

[F4 (4A) Any person may inspect the register of foreign lawyers during office hours without payment.

(4B) A registered foreign lawyer who wishes his name to be removed from the register of foreign lawyers may make an application to the Council in that behalf, and the Council shall, if the registered foreign lawyer satisfies the Council that he has made adequate arrangements with respect to the business that he has then in hand, remove the name of that foreign lawyer from the register of foreign lawyers.

(4C) On an application to the Council by a foreign lawyer whose name has been removed from the register of foreign lawyers under subsection (4B), the Council may, after such inquiry as they think proper, restore the name of the foreign lawyer to the register of foreign lawyers.

(4D) A foreign lawyer whose name has been removed (other than pursuant to an application made under subsection (4B)) from the register of foreign lawyers shall have his name restored to that register only if, on an application in that behalf made by him to the Tribunal and after such inquiry as the Tribunal thinks proper, the Tribunal so orders.

(4E) Rules made by the Tribunal under section 52 (procedure on complaints to the Tribunal) may–

(a) regulate the making, hearing and determining of applications under subsection (4D); and

(b) provide for payment by the applicant to the Council of such fee in respect of restoration to the register of foreign lawyers as the rules may specify.

(4F) Where, following an application under subsection (4), the Council decide not to enter the name of a foreign lawyer in the register of foreign lawyers the applicant may, within three months of the notification to him of the Council’s decision (or later with the permission of the court), appeal to the court against the decision and, on such an appeal, the court may–

(a) order the Council to register the foreign lawyer;

(b) refuse the appeal; or

(c) remit the matter to the Council with such directions as it sees fit.

(4G) Sections 24A to 24G (registration certificates for registered European lawyers) shall apply to registered foreign lawyers as they apply to registered European lawyers and any reference in those sections (as so applied) to a registration certificate shall be construed as a reference to a registration certificate for a registered foreign lawyer.]

(5) Subject to subsection (6), the Secretary of State may by order made by statutory instrument provide that any enactment or instrument—

(a) F5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(b) having effect in relation to solicitors; and

(c) specified in the order,

shall have effect with respect to registered foreign lawyers as it has effect with respect to solicitors.

(6) Before making any order under subsection (5), the Secretary of State shall consult the Council.

(7) An order under subsection (5) may provide for an enactment or instrument to have effect with respect to registered foreign lawyers subject to such additions, omissions or other modifications as the Secretary of State specifies in the order.

(8) No order shall be made under subsection (5) unless a draft of the order has been approved by both Houses of Parliament.

Textual Amendments

F1 Ss. 60A Title substituted (2.7.2012) by The Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 (Ancillary Provision) Regulations 2012 (S.S.I. 2012/212), regs. 1, 2(3)

F2 S. 60A(2)(aa) inserted (1.10.2004) by The Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 (Foreign Lawyers and Multi-national Practices) Regulations (S.S.I. 2004/383), {reg. 11(a)}

F3 S. 60A(4)(4ZA) substituted for s. 60(4) (2.7.2012) by The Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010 (Ancillary Provision) Regulations 2012 (S.S.I. 2012/212), regs. 1, 2(2)

F4 S. 60A(4A)-(4G) inserted (1.10.2004) by The Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 (Foreign Lawyers and Multi-national Practices) Regulations (S.S.I. 2004/383), {reg. 11(b)}

F5 S. 60A(5)(a) omitted (1.10.2004) by virtue of The Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 (Foreign Lawyers and Multi-national Practices) Regulations (S.S.I. 2004/383), {reg. 11(c)}