Procurement Act 2023

Legal services

14 (1) A contract for the provision of exempt legal services to a contracting authority.

(2) The following services are “exempt legal services”—

(a) legal representation by a lawyer in judicial proceedings or other dispute resolution proceedings, whether in or outside the United Kingdom;

(b) the giving of legal advice by a lawyer in connection with, or in contemplation of, any such proceedings;

(c) document certification or authentication services provided by a notary in circumstances where the certification or authentication is required under an enactment or other rule of law to be performed by a notary;

(d) legal services provided by a person required to provide them under an enactment or an order of a court or tribunal.

(3) In this paragraph—

• “judicial proceedings” includes proceedings before a court, tribunal or public authority;

• “lawyer” means—

  (a)

  a person who is an authorised person or an exempt person in relation to a reserved legal activity for the purposes of the Legal Services Act 2007 (see sections 18 and 19 of that Act);

  (b)

  a solicitor or advocate in Scotland;

  (c)

  a solicitor or barrister in Northern Ireland;

  (d)

  a person who is a member, and entitled to practise as such, of a legal profession regulated in a jurisdiction outside the United Kingdom;

• “other dispute resolution proceedings” includes arbitration, mediation and conciliation.