As a regulated individual you have both rights and responsibilities. Being regulated sets you apart from other professionals who operate without the assurance of regulation.
Your responsibilities
You must follow the:
- CILEx Code of Conduct
- Enforcement Rules
- CPD Regulations
- Titles, Logos and Regulatory Statement (Non- Authorised Entities)
It’s important you read the Code and rules above because they explain your responsibilities, and we can take action against you if you are found to have breached them.
You should be aware of the following guidance:
- First Tier Complaints Handling Guidance
- Requirement to provide consumers with information about an alternative dispute resolution body
All Members of CILEX must also follow the:
CILEX Practitioners must also follow the:
- Reserved Instrument Activities Certification Rules (for CILEX Conveyancing Practitioners)
- Probate Certification Rules (for CILEX Probate Practitioners)
- Immigration Certification Rules (for CILEx Immigration Practitioners)
- Rights to Conduct Litigation and Rights of Audience Certification Rules (for CILEX Practitioners with Litigation rights)
- Summary of the Courts you can appear in with a practice right
Chartered Legal Executive Advocates must also follow the:
- Rights of Audience Certification Rules
- Summary of the Courts you can appear in with a practice right
Associate Prosecutors must also follow the:
Your rights
These are the legal activities you can do as a member of our regulated community. The work you can do depends on your level of authorisation. If you are not sure whether you can do a specific type of legal work, you can contact CILEx Practice Advice on 01234 845777. It is your responsibility to ensure you are entitled to do the legal work that you carry out.
However, there are certain legal activities you cannot carry out unless you have been given specific authorisation to do so, or an exemption applies. These activities are:
Reserved legal activities under the Legal Services Act 2007
- the administration of oaths
- exercising rights of audience (advocacy)
- conducting litigation
- reserved instrument activities (transfer of property and conveyancing)
- probate activities
- notarial activities
Regulated legal activities
- immigration advice and services
- claims management activities
- insolvency work
Chartered Legal Executives (Fellows)
As a Chartered Legal Executive, you are authorised as a Commissioner for Oaths and can exercise this right without supervision, provided you have a valid practicing certificate. You can also carry out other non-reserved and non-regulated legal work without supervision.
If you wish to undertake any legal work that is another type of reserved or regulated legal activity, you will need a specific qualification and authorisation to do that work, unless you are legally exempt. See the Reserved and Regulated Legal Activities section below for more information.
CILEx Practitioners
As a CILEX Practitioner you have a specific qualification(s) and authorisation to carry out certain reserved legal activities (except notarial activities), and/or immigration advice and services, depending on your specialisation. Only Fellows can be authorised as a Litigator or Immigration specialist. For example, if you are a Family Litigator and Advocate you are authorised to carry out family litigation and advocacy in the lower courts without supervision. You must have a valid practising certificate and be working in an authorised firm to do the work.
You can also carry other non-reserved and non-regulated legal work with or without supervision. You will need a specific qualification and authorisation to carry out any other reserved or regulated legal activity outside your specialism unless you are legally exempt. See the Reserved and Regulated Legal Activities section below for more information.
Other regulated members of CILEX
If you are in a grade of membership below Chartered Legal Executive (Fellow) you are not authorised to carry out any reserved or regulated activities legal activities, unless a specific legal exemption applies to you. See the Reserved and Regulated Legal Activities section below for more information.
You can carry other non-reserved and non-regulated legal work with or without supervision. This includes providing legal advice or assistance in connection with the application of the law, or in relation to certain disputes.
Reserved and Regulated Legal Activities
CILEx Regulation provides specific authorisation to Chartered Legal Executives (Fellows) and CILEX Practitioners to carry out certain reserved legal activities under the Legal Services Act 2007 (except notarial activities), as well as the regulated legal activity of providing immigration advice and services. You must not carry out this type of work unless you have the necessary qualifications and a valid practicing certificate to do so. In many cases, the firm or business you work through must also be regulated.
There are other types of regulated legal activities that CILEx Regulation does not provide authorisation for. You may be able to carry these out if you are authorised and regulated by another regulator, or professional body to do the work.
In some limited circumstances there may be a legal exemption that allows you to carry out certain reserved and regulated legal activities without having a specific authorisation from CILEx Regulation or any other regulator.
A list of the reserved and regulated legal services and the authorisation needed from CILEx Regulation to do them, is set out in Tables A and B here, together with exemptions.
It is important to ensure that you have the necessary qualifications, skills and entitlement to do the work in question. This means ensuring that you do not carry out any reserved or regulated legal activity unless you are properly authorised or can demonstrate that a particular exemption applies to you in relation to the activity. It is an offence to carry out a reserved, or regulated legal activity if you are not authorised, or exempt. It is also an offence if you falsely hold yourself out as being authorised or exempt in relation to carry out many of the activities.
You must be clear with clients about your qualifications and authorisations, as well as the nature and scope of the work you are carrying out on their behalf. Acting in this way is likely to show that you complied with the CILEX Code of Conduct and in particular:
Principle 1: Uphold the rule of law and the impartial administration of justice
You must:
1.1 understand and comply with your primary and overriding duty to the court, obey court orders and do nothing which would place you in contempt;
1.2 not knowingly or recklessly allow the court to be misled.
Principle 2: Maintain high standards of professional and personal conduct and justify public trust in you, your profession and the provision of legal services.
You must:
2.1 advise your client of your professional status and that you are authorised to practise and/or regulated by CILEx Regulation. Where your practice is regulated by CILEx Regulation your business communications must confirm that;
2.2 not engage in any conduct that could undermine or affect adversely the confidence and trust placed in you and your profession by your client, your employer, professional colleagues, the public and others
Principle 3: Behave with honesty and integrity
You must:
3.5 not hold yourself out as having a qualification or professional status that you do not possess.
Principle 4: Comply with your legal and regulatory obligations and deal with regulators and ombudsmen openly, promptly and co-operatively.
You must:
4.1 understand and comply with the law and regulation applicable to you;
4.2 take all practicable steps to ensure you can demonstrate that you have adhered to the core Principles and met the associated Outcomes;
Principle 5: Act competently, in the best interests of your client and respect client confidentiality
You must:
5.3 act only on matters that are within your competence;
5.4 not act for a client in an area of law where you have insufficient knowledge or experience;
5.6 not act in a matter where you do not have the right or are not authorised to act;
5.7 adequately explain and agree with your client the terms upon which your services are to be provided, including the extent of the services, payment and the likely or anticipated cost, outcome and timescale for the advice and services to be provided.
Supervision
Where you do not have a specific qualification and authorisation to carry out a reserved or regulated legal activity, there may be an exemption that allows you to do the work. In some cases, this includes carrying out the work at the direction and under the supervision of a person who is properly authorised to do the activity in question. If the work relates to probate or reserved instrument activities, the authorised person (supervisor) must be your employer, a fellow employee or fellow manager of the same body – i.e. working for the same organisation. Tables A and B set out the exemptions that apply to reserved and regulated legal activities.
Where you are relying on supervision as an exemption, you must ensure that you comply with Principle 8 of the Code, in particular Outcome 8.4, which requires you to:
- act effectively and in accordance with proper governance and sound financial and risk management principles; and
- ensure that clients’ matters are supervised and regularly checked by those with sufficient competence and experience to assess the quality of the work and to ensure issues identified are addressed.
In addition, CILEx Regulation would expect to see the work carried out in the authorised person’s name (or their regulated firm), under their insurance and using letterheads and client literature. This is to help ensure that the necessary client and consumer protections, such as access to professional indemnity insurance, a compensation fund and provision for the escalation of service-related complaints are in place should things go wrong.
