EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order)
This Order is the eleventh commencement order made under the Legal Services Act 2007 (c. 29) (“the 2007 Act”).
Article 2 of this Order commences provisions which establish the arrangements by which a body which is partly or wholly owned or controlled by non-lawyers can apply to an approved regulator which has been designated as a licensing authority for a licence to provide services which constitute reserved legal activities. These provisions are to be found principally in Part 5 (alternative business structures) of, and Schedules 13 (ownership of licensed bodies) and 14 (licensing authority’s powers of intervention) to, the 2007 Act. The Order also commences other minor provisions of the 2007 Act.
Article 3 makes transitional provision to prevent any licence issued under Part 5 of the 2007 Act from having effect until the date on which section 18(1)(b) of that Act (which provides that a licensed body is an authorised person) comes into force.
Article 4 makes transitory provision removing references in the 2007 Act to the Legal Services Board as a licensing authority until such time as the provisions of Part 5 of that Act which provide for the Board to act as a licensing authority come into force.
Articles 5 and 6 alter the transitory provision made in The Legal Services Act 2007 (Commencement No. 6, Transitory, Transitional and Saving Provisions) Order 2009 and The Legal Services Act 2007 (Commencement No. 8, Transitory and Transitional Provisions) Order 2010 so that certain transitory provision made by those Orders does not come to an end until the provisions allowing the Board to act as a licensing authority come into force.
A full impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is published with the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument at www.legislation.gov.uk.