Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025

64 Unregulated providers of legal services: register, annual contributions and complaints contributions

(1) The 2007 Act is amended as follows.

(2) After section 28, insert—

“28A Unregulated providers of legal services: register and annual contribution

(1) The Commission must establish and maintain a register of unregulated providers of legal services.

(2) The Commission is to determine, in accordance with its rules under section 32(1), the information to be included in a register established under subsection (1).

(3) An unregulated provider of legal services that is specified in (or is of such type or description as may be specified in) regulations made by the Scottish Ministers must make a request to be entered in a register established under subsection (1).

(4) Any other unregulated provider of legal services may make a request to be entered in a register established under subsection (1).

(5) An unregulated provider of legal services who is entered in a register established under subsection (1) must pay to the Commission a contribution (referred to in this Part as “the annual contribution”).

(6) The amount of the annual contribution may be—

(a) different for unregulated providers of legal services who are individuals and unregulated providers of legal services who are not,

(b) of different amounts (including nil) in different circumstances.

(7) The Commission must make the register accessible by members of the public in such form and manner as it considers appropriate.

(8) The Commission must ensure that the amount of resources allocated for its use is reasonably sufficient to enable it to—

(a) establish and maintain the register, and

(b) investigate, determine and review services complaints against unregulated providers of legal services.

(9) In this section, a reference to an unregulated provider of legal services is to a person who provides legal services to the public for fee, gain or reward but who is not a practitioner.

28B Regulations under section 28A(3): requirements

(1) The Scottish Ministers may lay a draft of a Scottish statutory instrument containing regulations under section 28A(3) only if—

(a) they have received a request to exercise the power from—

(i) the Lord President,

(ii) the regulatory committee of a category 1 regulator,

(iii) a category 1 regulator that has no functions other than regulatory functions,

(iv) an approved regulator,

(v) the Commission, or

(vi) the independent advisory panel established by the Commission under paragraph 11A of schedule 1, and

(b) they have secured the Lord President’s agreement to the laying of the draft.

(2) Before making a request under subsection (1)(a), the person making the request (“the requester”) must—

(a) consult—

(i) the regulatory committee (if any) of each category 1 regulator,

(ii) each category 1 regulator that has no functions other than regulatory functions,

(iii) each approved regulator,

(iv) the Commission,

(v) the panel mentioned in subsection (1)(a)(vi), and

(vi) such other person as the requester considers appropriate, and

(b) except where the requester is the Lord President, secure the Lord President’s agreement to the making of the request.

(3) But a person mentioned in subsection (2)(a)(i) to (v) does not need to be consulted if the person is the requester.

(4) For the purpose of seeking the Lord President’s agreement under subsection (2)(b), the requester must provide to the Lord President—

(a) a document setting out why the requester considers it to be necessary to specify the unregulated legal services provider (or a type or description of unregulated legal services provider) in regulations under section 28A(3), and

(b) copies of any written representations received in response to the consultation under subsection (2)(a).

(5) A request under subsection (1)(a) must include—

(a) a document setting out why the requester considers it to be necessary to specify the unregulated legal services provider (or a type or description of unregulated legal services provider) in regulations under section 28A(3),

(b) copies of any written representations received in response to the consultation under subsection (2)(a), and

(c) except where the requester is the Lord President, written confirmation of the Lord President’s agreement to the making of the request.

(6) As soon as reasonably practicable after making a request under subsection (1)(a), the requester must publish the documents included with the request in such manner as the requester considers appropriate (having regard to the desirability of the documents being accessible to those likely to have an interest in them).

(7) In this section—

• “approved regulator” has the meaning given by Part 2 of the Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2010,

• “regulatory functions” in relation to a category 1 regulator, has the meaning given by section 6 of the 2025 Act.

28C Unregulated providers of legal services: upheld services complaints and complaints contribution

(1) An unregulated provider of legal services against whom a services complaint is made must pay to the Commission, in the circumstances specified in rules made under section 32(1), a contribution in relation to the complaint (referred to in this Part as “the complaints contribution”).

(2) The amount of the complaints contribution may be—

(a) of different amounts for different unregulated providers of legal services according to the amount of annual contributions (if any) paid by an unregulated provider of legal services,

(b) of different amounts (including nil) in different circumstances.

(3) In this section, a reference to an unregulated provider of legal services has the same meaning as in section 28A(9).”.