Legal Services Act 2007

73 Licensing authorities and relevant licensing authorities

(1) In this Act “licensing authority” means—

(a) the Board, or

(b) an approved regulator which is designated as a licensing authority under Part 1 of Schedule 10 and whose licensing rules are approved for the purposes of this Act.

(2) For the purposes of this Act—

(a) the Board is a licensing authority in relation to all reserved legal activities, and

(b) an approved regulator within subsection (1)(b) is a licensing authority in relation to any reserved legal activity in relation to which the designation is made.

(3) The Board—

(a) may delegate any of its functions as a licensing authority to such persons as it considers appropriate;

(b) must take such steps as are necessary to ensure an appropriate financial and organisational separation between the activities of the Board that relate to the carrying out of its functions as a licensing authority and the other activities of the Board.

(4) In this Part “relevant licensing authority”—

(a) in relation to a licensed body, means the licensing authority by which the licensed body is authorised to carry on an activity which is a reserved legal activity;

(b) in relation to an applicant for a licence, means the licensing authority to which the application is made.