The Legal Services Supervisory Authority has announced the release of AML/CFT/CPF Guidance Notes for the Cayman Islands legal sector. The publication follows an industry consultation launched in June 2026, when supervised firms were invited to comment on draft guidance. The LSSA states that the guidance is intended to support supervised firms in understanding and meeting…
Victoria consults on its first Consumer Strategy
The Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner is developing its first Consumer Strategy to guide how it supports the profession to understand and respond to the needs of people who use legal services, need legal help or are affected by legal services in Victoria. The regulator says the strategy is intended to strengthen consumer protection,…
High Court ruling limits SRA access to legally privileged material
In Carter-Ruck Solicitors and another v Solicitors Regulation Authority Limited [2026] EWHC 2416 (KB), Mr Justice Butcher held that section 44B of the Solicitors Act 1974 does not override a client’s legal professional privilege in the absence of waiver. The case arose from production notices issued during an SRA investigation and concerned the scope of…
Victoria regulator convenes “Citizen Lawyer” symposium on the rule of law
The Victorian Legal Services Board and Commissioner convened more than 100 participants from across Victoria’s justice and legal sector for “The Citizen Lawyer: Professional Identity, Public Purpose and the Rule of Law”. The regulator framed the symposium around the evolving role of lawyers and the profession’s responsibility to maintain public trust in the justice system….
South Africa reiterates use of digital identification for legal practitioners
The Legal Practice Council issued a September notice after receiving enquiries from magistrates and judges about how legal practitioners should be identified when attending courts and other government facilities, including police stations. The Council said its digital identity card system was introduced in January 2022, when manual or hard-copy cards were phased out The LPC…
Australia’s Administrative Review Tribunal issues generative AI Practice Direction
On 20 August 2026, Administrative Review Tribunal President Justice Emilios Kyrou AO signed a new Practice Direction governing the use of generative AI in Tribunal proceedings. The direction is intended to explain the Tribunal’s approach and expectations for people using generative AI and to identify situations in which particular caution is required. The Practice Direction…
SRA announces first changes to SQE1 following candidate feedback
The Solicitors Regulation Authority has announced what it describes as the first in a series of improvements to the Solicitors Qualifying Examination. From January 2027, SQE1 will contain 340 questions rather than 360, while questions will be organised within defined Functioning Legal Knowledge sessions instead of drawing across the full range of subjects in each…
Kenya proposes opening advocate training to new providers
The draft Legal Education (Licensing and Quality Assurance) Regulations, 2026 would establish procedures for licensing and accrediting legal education providers, define quality standards and provide mechanisms for supervision, renewal, suspension and termination of licenses. The accompanying Legal Education (Advocates Training Programme) Regulations, 2026 would create a framework for accrediting providers of the Advocates Training Programme,…
England and Wales funds up to 100 additional criminal Bar pupillages a year
The Ministry of Justice has launched a scheme providing up to £1.5 million a year for as many as 100 additional criminal Bar pupillages across England and Wales. The funding is intended to support training places that would not otherwise be available and to strengthen the junior end of the Criminal Bar at a time…
Ontario to revoke licences after prolonged indefinite suspension
The Law Society of Ontario has announced that it will use its statutory summary revocation power in late 2026 for licences that have remained indefinitely suspended under an order of the Hearing Division. The measure applies where the suspension followed a finding of professional misconduct or a failure to comply with a Hearing Division order…