Welcome to the website of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority 

 

Updates: 14 June 2018 -

Section 6 Public Consultation - Review of the Operation of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015

The LSRA has commenced its review of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 and now invites submissions under Section 6 of the Act through Public Consultation. 

The Public Consultation notice is available here. The deadline for receipt of Submissions is 27 July 2018.

 

LSRA Protected Disclosures Report 2017:

The LSRA's Protected Disclosures Report for 2017 can be found in the Reports Section of the website here.

The LSRA's Protected Disclosures Policy and Procedures can be found in the Governance Section of the website here.

 

Our 2017 Annual Report is now available:

The LSRA's Annual Report for 2017 has been laid before the Oireachtas by the Minister for Justice & Equality and is now available on our website here.

The Report sets out the breadth of work completed in 2017 by the LSRA and is complemented by our First Strategic Plan for 2018-2020 which can be found here.

 

Section 34 Public Consultation and Report - Your Last Chance to Get Involved - Closing 15 June 2018!

The dedicated Section 34 review website is now available here. This includes:

The Legal Services Regulatory Authority has issued a public notice inviting submissions as part of a public consultation prior to a report to the Minister for Justice and Equality on the education and training arrangements in the State for legal practitioners.

 

The LSRA is required to conduct the public consultation and to report to the Minister with any relevant recommendations under section 34 of the Legal Services Regulation Act, 2015.

 

The public consultation for the report commenced on 4 May 2018 and will close on 15 June 2018.

 

The report under section 34 is to be submitted to the Minister before 30 September 2018.

 

The public consultation notice can be found here.

 

The LSRA is keen to hear the views of any members of the public or the legal profession in relation to the education and training, including on-going training, arrangements in the State for legal practitioners, including the manner in which such education and training is provided.  

 

Submissions can be made by e-mail to S34Consultation@lsra.ie or by Post to

 

Section 34 Consultation,

Legal Services Regulatory Authority,

P.O. Box 12906,

Dublin 2.

 

The LSRA has engaged Hook Tangaza Consultants to assist with the public consultation and research required for the report into legal education and training. The Hook Tangaza research team include Alison Hook and  Katherine Bird of Hook Tangaza Consultants, Professor Nigel Savage of Savage Hutchinson Consulting and Professor Scott Slorach of York University.

 

Once the research report has been laid before the Oireachtas by the Minister for Justice and Equality, it will be made available on the LSRA website. Previous statutory reports into legal partnerships, multi-disciplinary practices and certain issues relating to barristers can be found in our Reports section.  

 

Authority Meetings

Minutes for Authority Meeting of 15 February 2018 are now published in our Meetings section.

 

LSRA Strategy Statement 2018-2020

The LSRA's Strategy Statement for the period 2018-2020 is now available in our Governance Section

 

Roll of Practising Barristers:

Part 9 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 relates to the obligations of a practising barrister under the Act.

This includes obligations in respect of requirement of practising barristers to be entered onto the roll (section 134).

The LSRA intends to commence the roll of practising barristers, as required by section 133 of the 2015 Act, in the second quarter of 2018.

Once commenced, the LSRA will have six months to enter on the roll the name of every person who is a practising barrister as defined in the Act.

This website will continue to be updated with progress on the implementation plan for the roll.

 

Reports

The Strategic Plan for the LSRA was approved by the Authority members at the Authority meeting on 15 February 2018.

The plan will be submitted to the Minister for Justice and Equality in accordance with section 20 of the 2015 Act.

Once the Strategic Plan has been laid before the Oireachtas by the Minister it will be published in the reports section of the website.

The LSRA Annual Report for 2017 is currently being prepared and will be submitted to the Minister prior to 30 April 2018 as per s.21 of the 2015 Act.

The Reports section of the website is here.

 

Section 6 Review of the Act

The LSRA have commenced the review of the Legal Services Regulation Act, 2015 as required under section 6 of the Act.

A public consultation on the review of the Act will commence shortly.

 

Section 34 Report on the Education and Training for Legal Practitioners

The LSRA will also be conducting a public consultation process in relation to the education and training arrangements in the State for legal practitioners.

The LSRA are required to submit a report on the education and training of Legal Practitioners to the Minister by 1 October 2018.

 

Legal Partnerships

The LSRA is currently focused on developing the framework necessary for the introduction of Legal Partnerships as required by the Legal Services Regulation Act, 2015.

The LSRA has held workshops with the Law Society, the Honorable Society of the King’s Inns and the Bar of Ireland.

The LSRA is developing draft regulations and a Code of Practice.

 

Professional Codes

The Law Society of Ireland has recently uploaded its professional codes to its website along with other useful information here.

The Bar of Ireland Code of Conduct can be found here and the Disciplinary Code can be found here.

 

Update in Detail:

A fuller update on the work of the LSRA can be found here - LSRA Update March 2018.