Martin Partington: Spotlight on the Justice System

Despite its relative newness, there have been complaints that the  current legal services regulatory landscape is too complex and burdensome. These complaints have been raised by stakeholders through a number of routes, including the Cabinet Office’s Red Tape Challenge.To obtain more information about the challenges legal service providers face the Ministry of Justice has decided to conduct a review of the legal services statutory framework.

The review will consider what could be done to simplify the regulatory framework and reduce unnecessary burdens on the legal sector while ensuring there is still appropriate oversight. It will consider the full breadth of the legislative framework, covering at least 10 pieces of primary legislation and over 30 statutory instruments.

The Press Release announcing the review states that the MoJ are also open to comments on the interaction between the legislative framework and the detailed rules and regulations of the approved regulators, licensing authorities and the Legal Services Board and Office for Legal Complaints, although these are not owned by MoJ.

The first stage of the review is a ‘call for evidence’ from stakeholders. The evidence provided to the MoJ will be analysed to identify potential ways in which the framework might be simplified. MoJ are interested in hearing legal service providers’ concerns with, and ideas for reducing, regulatory burdens and simplifying the legal services regulatory framework.

The closing date for the call for evidence was 2 September 2013. There are no indications of what the outcome of this process will be, but developments will be noted in later blogs on this site.

Source: http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/moj-review-of-legal-services-regulation/