The committee, or any three members of the committee (the F5(the Lord Chancellor being one), may make general orders prescribing the general principles to be applied when determining the remuneration of solicitors in respect of non–contentious business.

The F6Lord Chancellor, before any order under this section is made, shall cause a draft of the order to be sent to the F7Society; and the committee shall consider any observations of the F7Society submitted to them in writing within one month of the sending of the draft, and may then make the order, either in the form of the draft or with such alterations or additions as they may think fit.

In subsection (5) “authorised person” means a person who is an authorised person in relation to an activity which is a reserved legal activity, within the meaning of the Legal Services Act 2007 (see section 18 of that Act).

So long as an order made under this section is in operation the F13assessment of bills of costs of solicitors in respect of non–contentious business shall, subject to the provisions of section 57, be F14subject to that order.

Any order made under this section may be varied or revoked by a subsequent order so made.

The power to make orders under this section shall be exercisable by statutory instrument which shall be subject to annulment in pursuance of a resolution of either House of Parliament; and the M1Statutory Instruments Act 1946 shall apply to a statutory instrument containing such an order in like manner as if the order had been made by a Minister of the Crown.

Whether or not any order is in force under section 56, a solicitor and his client may, before or after or in the course of the transaction of any non–contentious business by the solicitor, make an agreement as to his remuneration in respect of that business.

The agreement may provide for the remuneration of the solicitor by a gross sum F15or by reference to an hourly rate, or by a commission or percentage, or by a salary, or otherwise, and it may be made on the terms that the amount of the remuneration stipulated for shall or shall not include all or any disbursements made by the solicitor in respect of searches, plans, travelling, F16taxes , fees or other matters.

The agreement shall be in writing and signed by the person to be bound by it or his agent in that behalf.

F17Subject to subsections (5) and (7), the agreement may be sued and recovered on or set aside in the like manner and on the like grounds as an agreement not relating to the remuneration of a solicitor.

If on any F18assessment of costs the agreement is relied on by the solicitor and objected to by the client as unfair or unreasonable, the F19costs officer may enquire into the facts and certify them to the court, and if from that certificate it appears just to the court that the agreement should be set aside, or the amount payable under it reduced, the court may so order and may give such consequential directions as it thinks fit.

Subsection (7) applies where the agreement provides for the remuneration of the solicitor to be by reference to an hourly rate.

Where a mortgage is made to a solicitor, either alone or jointly with any other person, he or the firm of which he is a member shall be entitled to recover from the mortgagor in respect of all business transacted and acts done by him or them in negotiating the loan, deducing and investigating the title to the property, and preparing and completing the mortgage, such usual costs as he or they would have been entitled to receive if the mortgage had been made to a person who was not a solicitor and that person had retained and employed him or them to transact that business and do those acts.

Where a mortgage has been made to, or has become vested by transfer or transmission in, a solicitor, either alone or jointly with any other person, and any business is transacted or acts are done by that solicitor or by the firm of which he is a member in relation to that mortgage or the security thereby created or the property thereby charged, he or they shall be entitled to recover from the person on whose behalf the business was transacted or the acts were done, and to charge against the security, such usual costs as he or they would have been entitled to receive if the mortgage had been made to and had remained vested in a person who was not a solicitor and that person had retained and employed him or them to transact that business and do those acts.

In this section “mortgage” includes any charge on any property for securing money or money’s worth.