Ans:   The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) requires that the
         applicants for admission as a solicitor in England and Wales be of
         good character.

        When you apply for a Certificate of Eligibility to transfer to the roll of
        solicitors of England and Wales under the Qualified Lawyers Transfer
        Regulations, you must declare all the matters that could affect your
        suitability for admission including criminal convictions from England
        and Wales or elsewhere, and financial matters such as insolvency or
        entering into voluntary arrangements. Failure to declare at this stage
        of the process is a serious breach of the admission requirements
        and may result in refusal of admission
       
        When you successfully complete the Qualified Lawyers Transfer
        Test and have complied with any experience requirements, you must
        apply through the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) for a
        standard disclosure from the Criminal Records Bureau
        (www.crb.gov.uk). As part of its quality programme to aid consumer
        protection, the Law Society’s Regulation Board has introduced a
        compulsory requirement for all individuals to obtain a satisfactory
        Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check prior to admission to the roll.
 

Ans:   We would like to inform you that if you are living in India for more
          than 5 years, you are not required to do a CRB disclosure.
          However, if you have lived anywhere else other than India in the last
          5 years and that country appears on the CRB website, then you
          would be required to do a disclosure for that country.

         The checklist of the countries offering CRB check is available on:
         http://www.crb.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=2243

         If you required doing a CRB disclosure, please request Solicitors
         Regulation Authority (SRA) to forward CRB standard disclosure
         application form to you. If you fail to obtain a satisfactory standard
         disclosure, your application for admission will be refused. The fee
         for a criminal records check is £ 47.

         If you have any further queries regarding the CRB check, kindly
         contact the SRA directly at their postal address: Information
         Services Section, Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), Ipsley
         Court, Berrington Close, Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 0TD, UK or
         +44 (0) 1527 504450 Or Via e-mail at contactcentre@sra.org.uk

Contact Centre,
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), 
Ipsley Court, Berrington Close, Redditch, 
Worcestershire, B98 0TD, UK
T: +44 (0) 1527 504450
E:contactcentre@sra.org.uk
W: www.sra.org.uk

Ques: What kind of support will be given by FLE or CLT to enrol
          the candidate with the SRA as a solicitor?

Ans:   Neither FLE nor CLT can assist in this process, as it is controlled
          by the SRA.

Ans:   Whether or not you need a practicing certificate is a complicated
          issue. You should seek guidance from the Professional Ethics
          Division (professional.ethics@sra.org.uk) of the Solicitors
          Regulation Authority (SRA).There is a booklet on the SRA
          website that deals with this issue and the link is:

http://www.sra.org.uk/documents/downloads
/Profethics_PractisingCerts.pdf

Ans:   Open your own solicitors’ practice, the practice rules state that
          you must have:

1. a practicing certificate
2. qualifying insurance with a qualifying insurer
3. a principal (or, if a company, a director; or, if an LLP, a
    member) who is "qualified to supervise";
4. to be "qualified to supervise", a solicitor must have:

a. held a practicing certificate for 36 months in
    the last 10 years; and
b. undertaken 12 hours management skills
    training.

If you feel that you have justification to apply for a waiver in relation to the length of time of holding a practicing certificate and to take the management skills training, you can do so by providing the details. Waivers can be granted in individual cases; however, the applicant would need to demonstrate that their circumstances are exceptional to justify a departure from the normal requirements of rule 5.02.

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