The Solicitors Regulation Authority has launched a consultation on regulating the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives (CILEX) members. The consultation comes after CILEX proposed re-delegating the regulation of its members from its current regulator, CILEX Regulation, to the SRA last year.
The SRA has identified some benefits for consumers that would arise from regulating CILEX members, including simplifying the regulatory landscape and improving consumer navigation of legal services.
The consultation sets out the proposed approach to regulation of CILEX members. This includes maintaining distinct identities for authorised CILEX lawyers and solicitors. To do this effectively a separate Code of Conduct for CILEX members would be introduced. This code of conduct would realign standards and regulations with that of current SRA regulated solicitors, while being mindful of the different roles and contexts of the legal professionals.
The SRA would also maintain a distinct route to authorisation for CILEX lawyers and professionals.
The consultation will run until 22 November 2023.