87-594: The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the legal profession and courts of England and Wales . The Act was the culmination of a series of reports and reforms that started with the Benson Commission in the 1970s, and significantly changed the way that the legal profession and court system worked. The changes introduced in
174-561: A conveyancer , and allows any individual, corporation or employee of a corporation to act as a conveyancer if they or the corporation is suitably qualified. Qualified people are defined as solicitors , barristers , licensed conveyancers and notaries , as well as any companies and incorporated bodies found in Section 9 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 . These people can apply to become authorised conveyancers by applying to
261-511: A white paper , which is a clear statement of intent. It is increasingly common for a small number of Government bills to be published in draft before they are presented in Parliament. These bills are then considered either by the relevant select committee of the House of Commons or by an ad hoc joint committee of both Houses. This provides an opportunity for the committee to express a view on
348-522: A Judicial Appointments Commission to examine judicial appointments for government interference. Austin Mitchell proposed the abolition of QCs and the establishment of a legal services commission. After the bill's introduction in Parliament on 6 December 1989 it was debated by the House of Lords until 18 April 1990. On 8 May 1990 it moved to the House of Commons, where it stayed until 26 October, when it
435-599: A body outside the Law Society. After pressure from the Law Society and several of the larger regional societies, the reforms were toned down, and the final proposal (which was implemented on 31 August 1986) kept the responsibility of regulating the solicitors' profession within the Law Society but increased the separation of functions within the Society and required that the majority of the people on regulatory committees be lay people (not solicitors). The next major reform
522-602: A chairman (who must be a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary , Lord Justice of Appeal or a High Court judge ) and sixteen other members, all appointed by the Lord Chancellor . The first chairman appointed was Lord Griffiths , a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary. The sixteen other members are divided so that: This section of the Act amended the House of Commons Disqualification Act 1975 to indicate that no Member of Parliament can be
609-567: A consultation paper on the subject in April 1984, but in December 1985 announced that it "was not satisfied that lending institutions could safely be permitted to offer both conveyancing and a loan in the same transaction. It is therefore proposed to prohibit the institutions from providing conveyancing, either directly or through a subsidiary company in which they hold a majority stake, to those who are also borrowing from them". This essentially killed
696-406: A disgrace to the Society". The Society paid compensation to Parsons for their mishandling of the situation, and said that they would compensate victims of similar cases where they had failed to investigate complaints with reasonable care. As a result of this and similar controversies, Alf Dubs introduced a private member's bill to move the responsibility of regulating the solicitors profession to
783-492: A few, if any, are passed each year. Parliamentary authorities maintain a list of all private bills before parliament . Hybrid bills combine elements of both public and private bill. While they propose to make changes to the general law, they also contain provisions applying to specific individuals or bodies. Recent examples are the Crossrail Bill, a hybrid bill to build a railway across London from west to east , and
870-510: A general change in the law. The only difference from other public bills is that they are brought forward by a private member (a backbencher) rather than by the government. Twenty private members' bills per session are allowed to be introduced, with the sponsoring private members selected by a ballot of the whole house, and additional bills may be introduced under the Ten Minute Rule . Financial bills raise revenue and authorise how money
957-554: A guarantee that the government would allow non-solicitors to undertake conveyancing work once a Committee had set out proposals for protecting consumers who used these new conveyancers against losses. The committee, known as the Farrand Committee (after its chairman, Julian Farrand ), finished its report in September 1984. The government almost immediately changed the rules to allow for licensed conveyancers , introducing
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#17327830185561044-786: A member of the Advisory Committee. Committee members are to serve for five years, and provisions are made for them to be paid and for them to maintain a staff, all of which are to be paid from the Lord Chancellor's budget. The committee is required to produce an annual report, which the Lord Chancellor must present to both the House of Lords and the House of Commons . The committee is tasked with maintaining and developing standards in "the education, training and conduct of those offering legal services", and with reviewing existing training schemes and any proposals for new training schemes. Section 36 removes limits on who can act as
1131-572: A minimum consultation period of twelve weeks. Consultation documents are widely circulated (see for example the Home Office consultation on extreme pornography and the Scottish Government 's consultation on food policy ). The character of the consultation is shaped by the government's determination to press forward with a particular set of proposals. A government may publish a green paper outlining various legislative options or
1218-661: A more detailed vetting process. Acts of Parliament in the United Kingdom King Charles III [REDACTED] William, Prince of Wales [REDACTED] Charles III ( King-in-Council ) [REDACTED] Starmer ministry ( L ) Keir Starmer ( L ) Angela Rayner ( L ) ( King-in-Parliament ) [REDACTED] Charles III [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] The Lord Reed The Lord Hodge Andrew Bailey Monetary Policy Committee An Act of Parliament in
1305-541: A period of consultation will take place before a bill is drafted. Within government, the Treasury and other departments with an interest will be consulted along with the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Outside government, interested parties such as trade unions , industry bodies and pressure groups will be asked for their views on any proposals. The Cabinet Office Code of Practice specifies
1392-409: A process of consultation, the sponsoring department will send drafting instructions to parliamentary counsel, expert lawyers working for the government responsible for writing legislation. These instructions will describe what the bill should do but not the detail of how this is achieved. The Parliamentary counsel must draft the legislation clearly to minimise the possibility of legal challenge and to fit
1479-575: A respected solicitor and member of the Council of the Law Society of England and Wales , the solicitors' professional body. Davies had charged Parsons £197,000 for legal services, a "grossly inflated and inaccurate legal bill" which was reduced to £67,000 without Davies complaining. Despite this the Law Society took no disciplinary action, allowing Davies to resign from the council on grounds of ill-health with his reputation intact. An investigation by
1566-584: A result of the House of Lords debate and the other criticism the Green Papers faced, the Lord Chancellor published a White Paper between the Green Papers and the introduction of a bill to Parliament . The paper ( Legal Services: A Framework for the Future ) was published in July 1989, and had a different tone to that of the Green Papers, referring more to the requirement of legal services to be responsive to
1653-469: A specifically named locality or legal person in a manner different from all others. Private bills are "usually promoted by organisations, like local authorities or private companies, to give themselves powers beyond, or in conflict with, the general law. Private bills only change the law as it applies to specific individuals or organisations, rather than the general public. Groups or individuals potentially affected by these changes can petition Parliament against
1740-418: A sub-category of private acts, which confer specific rights or duties on a named individual or individuals, for example allowing two persons to marry even though they are within a "prohibited degree of consanguinity or affinity" such as stepfather and stepdaughter. Private bills, common in the 19th century, are now rare, as new planning legislation introduced in the 1960s removed the need for many of them. Only
1827-516: A transaction, causing issues with conflicts of interest, and failed to take into account the problems caused by banks and estate agents, who had interests in the housing market, being allowed to act as conveyancers. Several different parties responded to the Green Papers ; the judiciary published The Green Papers: The Judges' Response , the Bar published Quality of Justice: The Bar's Response and
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#17327830185561914-689: Is a member of a professional body recognised by the Lord Chancellor and that body considers him qualified to conduct litigation. A person also has rights of audience if they have been directly granted it, for example by the Lord Chancellor in County Court proceedings. The most immediate effect of this is that solicitors can now gain rights of audience in the Crown Court , High Court , Court of Appeal , Court of Session , Privy Council , and House of Lords if they qualify as Solicitor Advocates . Solicitor's clerks also have rights of audience in
2001-436: Is designed to keep the business of government and public affairs up to date. These bills may not be substantial or controversial in party political terms. Two sub-classes of the housekeeping bill are consolidation bills , which set out existing law in a clearer and more up-to-date form without changing its substance; and the tax law rewrite bills , which do the same for tax law. An Act of Parliament will often confer power on
2088-820: Is spent. The best-known such bills are the normally annual Finance Bills introduced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Budget . This usually encompasses all the changes to be made to tax law for the year. Its formal description is "a Bill to grant certain duties, to alter other duties, and to amend the law relating to the National Debt and the Public Revenue, and to make further provision in connection with finance". Consolidated Fund and Appropriation Bills authorise government spending. This type of bill
2175-507: The 1976 Aircraft and Shipbuilding Industries Bill , which was a particularly controversial bill that was ruled to be a hybrid bill, forcing the government to withdraw some of its provisions to allow its passage as a public bill. Once passed, hybrid bills are printed as part of the public general acts. Parliamentary authorities maintain a list of all hybrid bills before parliament . It is important not to confuse private bills with private members' bills, which are public bills intended to effect
2262-670: The Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board , the regulatory body for conveyancing. Section 36 also repeals the section of the Building Societies Act 1986 that covered banks acting as conveyancers, since they are covered as "companies and incorporated bodies". Section 34 establishes the Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board as a statutory corporation . The Practitioners Board is tasked with developing competition in conveyancing services to avoid monopolies, supervising
2349-578: The High Court to transfer any part of a High Court case to a county court in one of three situations; firstly if the parties consent, secondly where the High Court believes the amount in dispute is below the maximum amount the County Court is allowed to deal with and thirdly where the High Court believes that the case is not likely to raise any important question of law. Before the passing of
2436-570: The King in Council , a minister , or another public body to create delegated legislation, usually by means of a statutory instrument . Bills may start their passage in either the House of Commons or House of Lords , although bills which are mainly or entirely financial will start in the Commons. Each bill passes through the following stages: Although not strictly part of the legislative process,
2523-414: The Law Society argued that solicitors were not at that time bound by the cab-rank rule in their dealings in the lower courts, and that there was no reason why this should not be extended to the higher courts. Michael Zander argued that the demands for the extension of the cab rank rule to solicitors were overstated—before the passing of the Act clients had always been able to find solicitors, and there
2610-450: The Law Society for regulating solicitors engaged in conveyancing work and the Council for Licensed Conveyancers charged with regulating licensed conveyancers. The Practitioners Board is the body which authorises a person or body as fit to undertake conveyancing work. The Practitioners board assumes that banks, insurance companies and building societies are by definition fit to undertake such work, while other individuals and bodies undergo
2697-517: The Law Society published Striking the Balance: The Final Response of the Council of the Law Society on the Green Papers . The response to the Green Papers was overwhelmingly negative, both in these published opinions and generally—the consultation period was extended for a month due to disagreements with the judiciary, and an all-day debate in the House of Lords on 7 April 1989 produced an "overwhelmingly hostile response". As
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2784-571: The Lord Chancellor to make an order giving rights of audience to anyone in County Court cases of a certain type. Section 4 of the Act amended the Supreme Court Act 1981 to extend the rules on costs that govern the Supreme Court of England and Wales to the county courts as well. At the same time it introduced "wasted costs", which are costs to a party as a result of "an improper, unreasonable or negligent act or omission" from
2871-715: The United Kingdom is primary legislation passed by the UK Parliament in Westminster , London . An Act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries ( England , Scotland , Wales and Northern Ireland ). As a result of devolution the majority of acts that are passed by Parliament increasingly only apply either to England and Wales only, or England only. Generally acts only relating to constitutional and reserved matters now apply to
2958-517: The chambers of judges in the Crown Court and High Court, assuming they are being instructed by a qualified solicitor. A large amount of parliamentary time was spent debating the application of the cab-rank rule to new legal professionals granted rights of audience – the Bar argued that all people with rights of audience in the higher courts should be subject to the same rules as barristers , while
3045-530: The county courts (as established by the County Courts Act 1984 ). Other parties, if they were in "relevant legal employment", could also request rights of audience for a particular case. The Civil Justice Review found significant variations between courts as to who would be granted rights of audience, however, and Part I of the Courts and Legal Services Act attempted to address this. Section 11 allows
3132-501: The "statutory objective", which reads "The general objective of this Part is the development of legal services in England and Wales (and in particular the development of advocacy, litigation, conveyancing and probate services) by making provision for new or better ways of providing such services and a wider choice of persons providing them, while maintaining the proper and efficient administration of justice." This "statutory objective"
3219-432: The Act covered a variety of areas. Important changes were made to the judiciary , particularly in terms of appointments, judicial pensions and the introduction of district judges , the arbitration process of Alternative Dispute Resolution and the procedure in the courts, particularly in terms of the distribution of civil business between the High Court and the county courts . The most significant changes were made in
3306-441: The Courts and Legal Services Act, around 13,000 cases were transferred to the county courts each year in this way. The Act changed the system so that the High Court has a discretionary power to transfer any proceedings to the county courts. Section 3 of the Courts and Legal Services Act amends the County Courts Act 1984 to allow the county courts to award any remedy used by the High Court . There were several exceptions because
3393-399: The High Court depending on the complexity and any case worth more than £50,000 is dealt with in the High Court. Claims worth under £3,000 are automatically dealt with by the small claims track of the County Court. This has drastically speeded up proceedings in the High Court by making sure that only "important" and valuable cases are dealt with by them. The County Courts Act 1984 permitted
3480-511: The House Buyers Bill. This aimed to remove the restrictions on conveyancing, and although the government opposed it they made it clear that they planned to allow banks and building societies to carry out conveyancing for their customers, and would also be prepared to allow non-solicitors with suitable qualifications to carry out conveyancing work as well. After negotiations with the government, Mitchell withdrew his bill in exchange for
3567-402: The House of Commons on 7 June 1988, Despite this brief respite, a series of events in the 1980s helped spur a period of dramatic change in the legal profession that culminated in the Courts and Legal Services Act. The Glanville Davies affair in 1982 highlighted severe problems in the way solicitors regulated themselves. Leslie Parsons filed a complaint against his solicitor, Glanville Davies,
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3654-639: The Labour government under Harold Wilson created a Royal Commission on Legal Services, known as the Benson Commission (after its chairman Sir Henry Benson ), which was asked to "examine the structure, organisation, training and regulation of the legal profession and to recommend those changes that would be desirable to the interests of justice". The Commission frightened the legal profession, which believed that they were likely to face severe structural changes and lose their monopolies on probate work and conveyancing work. Their fears were unfounded, however—when
3741-584: The Lay Observer and the Law Society itself (which became known as the Ely Report ) highlighted "an appalling catalogue of errors, insensitivity and poor judgment" in the handling of the Davies Affair by the Law Society internal disciplinary organisation, with "administrative failures, wrong decisions, mistakes, errors of judgement, failures in communication and insenstivity... the whole affair was
3828-565: The actions of licensed conveyancers and developing a way of monitoring said conveyancers. The Practitioners Board has the powers to both grant and refuse authorisation to conveyancing practitioners, establish a conveyancing ombudsman and a compensation scheme for parties that suffer as a result of a conveyancer's actions appoint investigators to look into the behaviour of an authorised conveyancer. There are therefore three regulatory bodies under this Section—the Practitioners Board,
3915-538: The attention of the public when Cyril Smith 's solicitor asked to read out a statement settling a libel action in the High Court —he was refused, both at the High Court and the Court of Appeal , although a practice statement issued by the Court of Appeal in 1986 indicated that they felt solicitors should be allowed to appear in front of the High Court and Court of appeal in formal proceedings. A public debate followed, with
4002-524: The basis of a large part of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990. The three Green Papers were published by Lord Mackay in January 1989, and were titled The Work and Organisation of the Legal Profession , Conveyancing by Authorised Practitioners and Contingency Fees . The Work and Organisation of the Legal Profession was the main paper, and stated that the overall government objective
4089-586: The bill and propose amendments before it is introduced. Draft bills allow more lengthy scrutiny of potential legislation and have been seen as a response to time pressures which may result in the use of programme orders to impose a strict timetable on the passage of bills and what is known as 'drafting on the hoof', where the government introduces amendments to its own bills. With increased time for scrutiny backed up with considered evidence, draft bills may present governments with difficulty in getting their way. The sponsoring government department will then write to
4176-524: The bill in with existing UK, European Union and delegated legislation. A finished bill must be approved or scrutinised by the sponsoring department and minister, parliamentary counsel and LP. The final stage is the submission of the bill to the authorities of the House in which it is to start its legislative journey. In the Commons, this is the Clerk of Legislation and the Public Bill Office in
4263-474: The bill was printed on 6 December 1989, and consisted of 87 sections and 13 schedules spread over 115 pages. By the time the bill passed this had been extended to 125 sections and 20 schedules spread over 201 pages, mostly due to the discovery of how complex the required reforms would really be. The bill was introduced in the House of Lords on 6 December 1989 by Lord Strathmore . Several proposed clauses were debated in great detail, but failed to be included in
4350-543: The changes with a section in the Administration of Justice Act 1985 . Despite worries that this would bankrupt solicitors who specialised in conveyancing work, very few licensed conveyancers began practising due to the difficulties in qualifying, and although the field has become more competitive there has been no substantial loss of revenue like that feared. Solicitors were more scared by the proposal that banks would be allowed to offer conveyancing services, but this suggestion eventually came to nothing. The government introduced
4437-514: The code of conduct set out by the Bar . The Law Society would be recognised under the Act as having the authority to declare a solicitor qualified to practice in a particular court, and solicitors would be recognised as soon as they finished their training contract as having rights of audience in the lower courts. The monopoly on starting and conducting litigation would also be removed, allowing any recognised legal authority to certify its members as fit to work as an advocate. The first draft of
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#17327830185564524-408: The complexity involved or the importance of any legal question likely to be raised. An exception to this rule is that the Lord Chancellor cannot ask the County Court to hear any case of judicial review . The result of this section of the Act is that any case worth less than £25,000 is dealt with in the County Court, any case worth between £25,000 and £50,000 is dealt with in either the County Court or
4611-579: The county courts, while any case valued at more than that would go straight to the High Court. Section 1 of the Act allows the Lord Chancellor to change the financial boundaries after consultation with senior judges such as the Lord Chief Justice and the Master of the Rolls , and also allows the Lord Chancellor to create categories based on things other than the financial value of the case, such as
4698-450: The court system and speed up the process. The Act also changed the court rules on the submission of evidence. The Civil Justice Review found that many cases which could easily have been settled before the hearings in court were not, primarily because there was no way of assessing the strength of the other side's arguments and their evidence. The Civil Justice Review suggested that forcing parties to provide evidence and witness statements to
4785-496: The discipline of the market, ensure that the public is provided with the most efficient network of legal services at the most economical prices, although the Government also believes that the public must also be assured of the competence of the providers of those services" The Green Papers had several main features, the first of which was describing the new role of the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education, which
4872-475: The extension of solicitors' rights of audience to the Crown Court , with the Bar representatives and one independent member disagreeing and attaching a Note of Dissent to the final report that undermined its conclusions. When the Conservative government was re-elected in 1987 it announced that it would produce a set of Green Papers on the work and organisation of the legal profession. These papers formed
4959-493: The final act. Lord Mishcon suggested that the Lord Chancellor should be required to "ensure that reasonable standards are set" for the courts service, the aim being to avoid delays and unnecessary expense. Lord Rawlinson made two proposals—firstly, to abolish the judicial functions of the Lord Chancellor (something that was later included in the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 ), and secondly to establish
5046-572: The framework in the Building Societies Act would be repealed, and replaced by a system of authorised practitioners, where any person, partnership or corporate body could provide conveyancing services if they met certain standards. The authorised practitioners would have a professional code of conduct, and would be supervised by a certain number of licensed conveyancers and solicitors . The draft code of conduct had several flaws, however—it allowed practitioners to act for both parties in
5133-408: The government to go against its earlier suggestion. Following the loss of their conveyancing monopoly, solicitors turned to the barrister 's monopoly on rights of audience and attempted to have it removed. In March 1984 the Council of the Law Society of England and Wales attempted to press for full rights of audience for solicitors, something the Bar was heavily opposed to. The dispute came to
5220-425: The higher courts by granting solicitors rights of audience in the Crown Court , High Court , Court of Appeal , Court of Session , Privy Council , and House of Lords if they qualify as solicitor advocates . The Act also made many minor changes to areas as varied as family law , criminal prosecutions and the distribution of costs in civil cases. The Act has been called "[one of] the great reforming statutes of
5307-462: The judge and asked to explain their behaviour. If the explanation is not satisfactory they can be fined up to £400. This section was not entirely popular with the Members of Parliament , with Lord Grantchester calling it "a sledgehammer to crack a nut". Part II of the act is considered the most important and sets out a new regulatory framework for the legal profession. This section is the subject of
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#17327830185565394-440: The largest category of legislation, in principle affecting the public general law applying to everyone across the entire United Kingdom, or at least to one or more of its constituent countries of England , Northern Ireland , Scotland , or Wales . Most public general acts proceed through Parliament as a public bill. Occasionally a bill is treated as hybrid . Private acts are either local or personal in their effect, applying to
5481-578: The needs of the client rather than the discipline of the market and problems with competition between branches of the legal profession. The white paper was divided into four sections: The White Paper allowed for extended rights of audience for both solicitors and any newly created legal disciplines, and also allowed that for certain types of cases, particularly in the county courts , there would be no limits on who could work as an advocate. All barristers would be allowed full rights of audience as soon as they completed pupillage , as long as they comply with
5568-436: The opinion of the High Court judge) from the High Court to the Court of Appeal . This was hotly debated, but the Master of the Rolls pointed out in Parliament that there is a significantly higher success rate in cases where the parties require the judge's permission to appeal than cases where the parties have absolute rights of appeal, implying that the restriction of absolute rights of appeal should cut pointless cases out of
5655-484: The other party before the case comes to court. Any party who fails to comply with this may be refused leave to present this oral evidence in court. A similar system had been used in the Chancery Division , Admiralty Court and Commercial Court since 1986. Prior to the passing of the Courts and Legal Services Act, only barristers , solicitors and the parties to a case had automatic rights of audience in
5742-535: The other party. The Act also applies special rules to High Court cases that the judge believes should have been brought in the County Court—the judge can reduce any costs by up to 25 percent to take into account the unneeded expense for both parties. The Act also introduces direct fines for parties that do not turn up to a hearing in a High Court or Crown Court case. If a party fails to attend an agreed meeting, with no warning beforehand, they can be summoned before
5829-410: The other side before the case came to court would make this assessment easier, and would lead to the parties settling their case before it came to court if one side was at an obvious disadvantage. This suggestion was accepted, and included in the Act, which says that each party must produce written statements of any oral evidence they intend to present in court, and that these statements should be given to
5916-441: The proposal (a framework which would allow banks to undertake conveyancing work was included in the Building Societies Act 1986 but never implemented) because the banks had no interest in lending only to people who were not also engaged in a loan agreement with them. It was well known at the time that many members of the cabinet were happy with the initial proposal, but that Lord Hailsham was determined not to let it pass and forced
6003-777: The proposed bill and present their objections to committees of MPs and Lords." They include acts to confer powers on certain local authorities, a recent example being the Canterbury City Council Bill, which makes provisions relating to street trading and consumer protection in the city. Private bills can also affect certain companies: the Northern Bank Bill allowed the statutory right of Northern Bank to issue bank notes to be transferred to Danske Bank which had acquired it. Other private bills may affect particular companies established by Act of Parliament such as TSB Bank and Transas. Personal acts are
6090-487: The relevant policy committee of the Cabinet. The proposals are only discussed at a meeting if disagreements arise. Even an uncontroversial proposal may face administrative hurdles. A potential change in the law may have to wait for a more extensive bill in that policy area to be brought forward before it is worthwhile devoting parliamentary time to it. The proposal will then be bundled together with more substantive measures in
6177-403: The report was published in 1979 it did not propose any radical changes, with one editorial describing it as "characterised by an over-anxiety not to offend the professional establishment". In particular it ruled out the possibility of partnerships between barristers, upheld the idea of a split profession (one with both solicitors and barristers, in contrast to a fused profession ) and also rejected
6264-489: The result being that a joint committee between the Law Society and the Bar was formed to discuss the future of the legal profession. Known as the Marre Committee after its chairwoman, Mary Marre , The committee was established in April 1986 and made its report in July 1988. The committee had not been a successful one—the result was split, with the solicitor members and six of the seven independent members recommending
6351-489: The same Bill. The Ministerial Committee on the Legislative Programme (LP), including the leaders and government chief whips in both houses, is responsible for the timetable of legislation. This committee decides which house a bill will start in, recommends to the Cabinet which proposals will be in the King's Speech , which will be published in draft and how much parliamentary time will be required. Following
6438-603: The status of the County Courts made it illogical to allow them to write orders of mandamus or certiorari . The new section also allows the Lord Chancellor to prohibit the county courts from making certain other types of order, with these types to be introduced by statutory instrument . Again, these are orders which it would be illogical to allow the county courts to write, such as Anton Piller orders or Mareva injunctions . The Act also removes certain absolute rights of appeal (allowing parties to appeal regardless of
6525-410: The suggestion to allow solicitors rights of audience in the High Court . The report concluded that the practice of law was a profession, and that a profession had to be independent of government, because without independence the interests of a client cannot be a primary consideration. As such, since the legal profession regulated itself through organisations such as the Law Society and Bar Council, it
6612-401: The twentieth century" and "one of the most important pieces of legislation affecting the delivery of legal services since 1949". During the 1960s the legal profession ( barristers , solicitors , and certificated notaries ) came under fire for what was perceived to be poor performance, the high cost of conveyancing , and its failure to deal with the needs of all levels of society. In response,
6699-402: The way the legal profession was organised and regulated. The Act broke the monopoly solicitors held on conveyancing work, creating an Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board which could certify "any individual, corporation or employee of a corporation" as an authorised conveyancer subject to certain requirements. The Act also broke the monopoly the Bar held on advocacy and litigation in
6786-410: The whole of the United Kingdom . A draft piece of legislation is called a bill . When this is passed by Parliament and given royal assent , it becomes an act and part of statute law . Acts of Parliament are classified as either "public general acts" or "local and personal acts" (also known as "private acts"). Bills are also classified as "public", "private", or "hybrid". Public general acts form
6873-404: Was a completely new way of introducing legislation, and is intended as an aid to those who have to apply it. The most important element of this Part was the extension of rights of audience in the higher courts to solicitors and other legal professionals. Sections 27 and 28 of Part II give an advocate rights of audience and the right to conduct litigation if the advocate is qualified to do so,
6960-469: Was best if it stayed independent of government interference. The Commission did recommend an examination of the court and legal procedures to see if time and money could be saved for the parties involved. The government response to the Benson Committee's report was published in 1983, and established a Civil Justice Review to examine court procedure. The report of the review board was put before
7047-404: Was for rights of audience . Mackay proposed that all lawyers, whether barristers or solicitors , should require a certificate of competence to work in the higher courts, while their initial professional qualifications would allow them to practice in the lower courts. This proposal allowed solicitors to gain full rights of audience up to the House of Lords with the appropriate certification, and
7134-434: Was no reason why this should suddenly change when the act came into force. The Bar won this particular argument, however, and as a result anybody who can certificate advocates as qualified to hold rights of audience in the higher courts must have a code of conduct governing advocates who refuse cases. Section 19 of Part II established the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct , which consists of
7221-574: Was passed. The bill received the Royal Assent on 1 November 1990. The final version of the act was divided into six sections: Part I of the Act made several changes to the procedure used in civil courts, namely the High Court and the county courts . Almost all civil work is dealt with by either the High Court or the County Court. Prior to the Act, there was a simple financial boundary to decide which cases would go to which court—any contract or tort case valued at less than £5,000 would go to
7308-429: Was the loss of the conveyancing monopoly. Before 1983, only solicitors had been authorised to take part in conveyancing work—for anyone else to draft documents relating to the transfer of property was a statutory offence. In December 1983 Austin Mitchell , a Labour Member of Parliament who had been one of the initial supporters of Alf Dubs ' private member's bill introduced a private member's bill of his own called
7395-505: Was to be expanded to cover matters of professional conduct as well, and be renamed the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct (ACLEC). The committee would have fifteen members, all appointed by the Lord Chancellor , and would be tasked with commenting on lawyers' education, training and codes of conduct. The Advisory Committee would also advise the Lord Chancellor on which bodies should be allowed to grant rights of audience to their members. The second main feature
7482-414: Was to ensure that: "' the market providing legal services operates freely and efficiently so as to give clients the widest possible choice of cost effective services; and the public can be certain that those services are being supplied by people who have the necessary expertise to provide a service in the area in question... [we believe] free competition between the providers of legal services will, through
7569-469: Was widely disliked by barristers and judges. The idea that barristers would not automatically have rights of audience also irritated them, and the idea that the Lord Chancellor would be responsible for defining which bodies could grant these certificates undermined the principle that the legal profession should be independent from the Government. In terms of conveyancing , the Green Paper proposed that
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