Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025

44 Practice rules

(1) For the purposes of this Part, the practice rules are rules about—

(a) the—

(i) operation and administration of authorised legal businesses,

(ii) standards to be met by authorised legal businesses,

(b) the operational positions within authorised legal businesses,

(c) accounting and auditing,

(d) professional indemnity,

(e) the making and handling of any complaint about an authorised legal business,

(f) the measures that may be taken by the regulator, in relation to an authorised legal business, if—

(i) there is a breach of the regulatory scheme of the regulator, or

(ii) a complaint referred to in paragraph (e) is upheld.

(2) Without limit to the generality of subsection (1), practice rules must—

(a) require authorised legal businesses to—

(i) comply with the regulator’s ALB rules and the terms on which authorisation is granted including, in particular, any conditions or restrictions which have been imposed in relation to the authorisation,

(ii) adhere to the professional principles,

(iii) have proper accounting and auditing procedures,

(iv) have sufficient arrangements for professional indemnity, and

(v) co-operate with reviews of, and investigations into, their performance,

(b) include provision that it is a breach of the ALB rules for an authorised legal business to fail to comply with—

(i) its duties under this Part, and

(ii) duties under any other enactment specified in the scheme, and

(c) allow an authorised legal business to make representations to the regulator before the regulator takes any of the measures available to it under the rules.

(3) Practice rules may include such further arrangements as to the professional practice, conduct or discipline of authorised legal businesses for which provision is (in the regulator’s opinion) necessary or expedient.