SOLICITORS TRAINING (CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT) REGULATIONS 2004

The Council of the Law Society of Northern Ireland, in exercise of its powers under Article 6 and Article 74(1) of the Solicitors (Northern Ireland) Order l976, as amended by the Solicitors (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order l989, and all powers enabling it in that behalf, and with the concurrence of the Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland, hereby makes the following Regulations.

1. These Regulations may be cited as the Solicitors Training (Continuing Professional Development) Regulations 2004 and shall come into operation on 6 th January 2005.

(1) The Interpretation Act (Northern Ireland) l954 shall apply to the interpretationof these Regulations as it applies to a statutory instrument.

(2) In these Regulations “the Council” means the Council of the Law Society of Northern Ireland;

“continuing professional development” means relevant education and study by a solicitor to maintain and develop his professional knowledge, skills and ethical understanding;

“the Order” means the Solicitors (Northern Ireland) Order l976 as amended by the Solicitors (Amendment) (Northern Ireland) Order l989;

“relevant period” means the practice year in respect of which a scheme is approved by the Council in accordance with Regulation 4;

“the roll” means the roll of solicitors kept by the Society under Article 8 of the Order;

“solicitor” means a solicitor holding a practising certificate under the Order.

(1) These Regulations apply to all solicitors on the roll.

(2) A solicitor shall undertake during the relevant period such scheme of continuing professional development as may be approved for that period by the Council in accordance with Regulation 4.

1) The Council may approve by resolution, from time to time, a scheme which shall specify the continuing professional development requirements for the relevant period.

2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, any scheme approved bythe Council under paragraph (1) may provide for:

(a) the form and contents of a record to be maintained by the solicitor to demonstrate compliance with these Regulations and the requirements of the scheme;

(b)accreditation of training providers for the purposes of the scheme.

3) Any record specified by the Council in accordance with paragraph (2) shall be produced to the Registrar on demand.

5. Failure to comply with the requirements of these Regulations or of the relevant continuing professional development scheme may be treated as professional misconduct.

6. The Council shall have power to waive any of the provisions of these Regulations or the scheme in their application to any particular case or class of cases.

7 The Solicitors Training (Continuing Professional Development) Regulations 2001 are hereby revoked.

Dated this 13 day of October 2004.

I concur: Brian Kerr 9 December 2004

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This Note does not form part of the Regulations)

These regulations provide for a scheme of continuing professional development to be approved by the Council of the Law Society of Northern Ireland. The Regulations come into operation on 6 th January 2005, and apply to all solicitors.

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