The civil standard of proof should be used in the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and lay majorities should be guaranteed, the Solicitors Regulatory Association (SRA) has said.
Responding to the tribunal’s ‘Consultation on the making of procedural rules in relation to applications to the tribunal’, the SRA described the use of the criminal standard for the tribunal as ‘disproportionate’ and ‘costly’, and said it created an incentive for defendants to fight cases.
The SRA advocated introducing a requirement for lay majorities in the threeperson tribunal (currently made up of one layperson and two solicitors), ‘supporting public confidence by removing the perception of a structural bias in favour of solicitors’.
The Bar Standards Board is moving to the civil standard of proof for its disciplinary process in March 2019, subject to the approval of the Legal Services Board. It is also considering setting timescale targets after its annual enforcement report revealed average times rose from 15.1 months to 17.9 months, with 16 cases lasting more than two years. Blacklaws:
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