Our 2026 Corporate Plan launched today, sets out an ambitious programme of work for delivering the second year of our 2025-2027 Corporate Strategy. Its aim is for CRL to further strengthen the regulation of legal executives, improve information to consumers and continue to be an active player on the future of legal regulation.
CRL sets out six priority areas:
- Responding to Mazur: We will prioritise our response to the Mazur ruling. CRL has already acquired additional resource to manage the increased level of enquiries and Practice Rights applications, and we will prioritise the issuing of litigation rights to those who want them consistent with maintaining high standards of consumer protection.
- Enforcement Improvement:we will continue the improvements within the Enforcement Team to improve efficiency and reduce timescales for handling misconduct cases. This includes reviewing the existing Enforcement Rules to ensure they reflect best practice.
- Improving User Experience: We will continue to deliver our core authorisation, supervision, and enforcement regulatory activities – looking always to refine and improve the way in which we deliver regulatory services in the public and professional interest.
- Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: we will implement the refreshed EDI Strategy for 2026-2028, working closely with CILEX. Our priorities are to improve access, help professionals to realise their potential, serve all consumers and be a more inclusive CRL.
- Future Regulatory Landscape:we will continue to engage constructively with CILEX on the future shape of regulation. We will also contribute to the broader debate on the continued effectiveness of the 2007 Legal Services Act.
- Stakeholder Engagement: We will also continue our programme of outreach, building on our two webinars in November 2025 which reached over 1300 members, and learning from the stakeholder survey we have initiated.
Jonathan Rees, CRL Chair, commented:
“In the last year we have successfully promoted access to justice and consumer empowerment, for instance improving the transparency of information, making complaints handling better, and publishing research on digital exclusion. We have also significantly upped our regulatory performance, shortening the time needed to gain practice rights, and increasing CPD compliance while also contributing to the growing debate on the future shape of the 2007 Legal Services Act.
Looking forward to 2026, our first priority will be to assist legal executives to gain litigation rights following the massive upset caused by the Mazur judgment. We have made a good start in reprioritising resources, and I am confident we now have the necessary systems in place. Alongside that we will review our enforcement activity, implement our refreshed EDI strategy, continue with our plans to be an authoritative inclusive and capable organisation, and contribute actively on how to improve the system of legal regulation.”
