(1)Subject to the provisions of this section, every solicitor who holds a practising certificate which is in force shall have the powers conferred on a commissioner for oaths by the Commissioners for Oaths Acts 1889 and 1891 and section 24 of the [1891 c. 38.] Stamp Duties Management Act 1891; and any reference to such a commissioner in an enactment or instrument (including an enactment passed or instrument made after the commencement of this Act) shall include a reference to such a solicitor unless the context otherwise requires.
(2)A solicitor shall not exercise the powers conferred by this section in a proceeding in which he is solicitor to any of the parties, or in which he is interested.
(3)A solicitor before whom any oath or affidavit is taken or made shall state in the jurat or attestation at which place and on what date the oath or affidavit is taken or made.
(4)A document containing such a statement and purporting to be sealed or signed by a solicitor shall be admitted in evidence without proof of the seal or signature, and without proof that he is a solicitor or that he holds a practising certificate which is in force.
(5)Nothing in this section shall affect the power to appoint commissioners under the [1889 c. 10.] Commissioners for Oaths Act 1889.
For the purpose of any statutory provision or custom whereby the qualification of a solicitor for holding any office depends upon his having been admitted and enrolled for a prescribed period, the period of enrolment of a solicitor who before admission was a barrister shall be deemed to include any period after his call to the bar in England and Wales during which he is, for the purposes of this section, recognised by the Society as having been, or certified by the Attorney General as having in his opinion been, in practice or in employment as a barrister.
Where proceedings in bankruptcy have been taken against any solicitor, the Society shall be entitled—
(a)to inspect the file of those proceedings without payment of any fee ; and
(b)to be supplied with office copies of those proceedings on payment of the usual charge.
(1)For the purpose of facilitating the service of notices and other documents, every solicitor who has in force, or has applied for, a practising certificate shall give notice to the Society of any change in his place or places of business before the expiration of 14 days from the date on which the change takes effect.
(2)Any notice or other document required or authorised by or by virtue of this Act to be served on any person may be served on him by delivering it to him, by leaving it at his proper address or by sending it by post.
(3)Any such notice or document may be served on a practising solicitor, without prejudice to any other method of service, by sending it in a registered letter addressed to him at any place specified as his place of business, or one of his places of business, in his latest application for a practising certificate or in any subsequent notice under subsection (1).
Where a solicitor keeps an account with a bank in pursuance of rules under section 32—
(a)the bank shall not incur any liability, or be under any obligation to make any inquiry, or be deemed to have any knowledge of any right of any person to any money paid or credited to the account, which it would not incur or be under or be deemed to have in the case of an account kept by a person entitled absolutely to all the money paid or credited to it; and
(b)the bank shall not have any recourse or right against money standing to the credit of the account, in respect of any liability of the solicitor to the bank, other than a liability in connection with the account.
In the [1879 c. 11.] Bankers' Books Evidence Act 1879 (which provides for copies of entries in bankers' books to be receivable in evidence in legal proceedings), in section 10 (interpretation), at the end of the definition of " legal proceeding " there shall be inserted the words " and an application to, or an inquiry or other proceeding before, the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal or any body exercising functions in relation to solicitors in Scotland or Northern Ireland corresponding to the functions of that Tribunal ".