Advice & Information related to Rule C4.1/4.2: Acquiring Rights of Audience
Rights Of Audience In The High Court Of Justiciary/Court Of
Session, Supreme Court And Judicial Committee Of The Privy
Council.
1. Statutory Requirements (Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980
s25A)
(a) Completion to
the satisfaction of the Council of The Law Society of Scotland of a
Course of training in evidence and pleading in relation to
proceedings in the Courts for which Rights of Audience are
sought;
(b) Knowledge of (1) the practice and procedure of
and (2) professional conduct in regard to those Courts; and
(c) That the Council are satisfied having regard
among other things to the Applicant's experience in appropriate
proceedings in the Sheriff Court that the Applicant is a fit and
proper person to have a Right of Audience in the higher courts.
2. Application Form
You should complete the Application Form as fully as possible.
If the information given is not sufficient, this may lead to a
delay while further information is sought.
3. Fitness to practise
All questions in Part 2 of the Application Form must be
answered. Convictions which may be regarded as spent under the
Rehabilitation of Offenders Act should be included. Even if an
Applicant has satisfactorily completed Parts (a) and (b) of
Paragraph 1 above, the Council will still require to be satisfied
that the Applicant is a fit and proper person to have a Right of
Audience. This could result in an Application being refused even
after the Applicant has complied with the other statutory
requirements.
4. Experience
Applicants who have not had relevant experience of Court work as
an admitted solicitor for five years prior to submitting an
Application may be unable to satisfy the Council with regard to
experience.
Relevant experience means experience of solemn trials in the
Sheriff Court for those seeking the Right of Audience in the High
Court and proofs, debates or appeals in the Sheriff Court for those
seeking the Right of Audience in the Court of Session etc.
Applicants who have been practising members of the Faculty of
Advocates may count experience in that capacity towards the five
years. The Council will consider waiving the need for five years
experience in exceptional cases such as solicitors whose shorter
experience has been intensive; who have been practising members of
the Bar in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or another Member State
of the European Union; or who have had relevant experience of Court
work as a solicitor in England, Wales, Northern Ireland or another
jurisdiction.
The information to be given in Part 3 of the Application Form about
relevant experience should be restricted to cases in which a trial,
proof, debate or appeal to the Sheriff Principal has taken place.
Experience in other Courts or Tribunals (including the Court for
which you are seeking Rights of Audience) should be included in the
section "Other Experience". You should restrict yourself to cases
which have been set down for trial, proof, debate or appeal as the
case may be. Cases which have not yet reached that stage should
only be included if you have personally argued a lengthy contested
motion in them. You should indicate the role in which you were
involved including whether you have appeared personally in the
Court of Session either in Chambers or at the Vacation Court.
Information to be given about any case should include the name, the
Court in which it took place, the year in which it was heard, and
whether the hearing was a trial, proof, debate or appeal. It is not
necessary to advise of the outcome nor to forward background papers
in connection with the case. If the hearing lasted more than one
day, the duration would also be helpful.
5. Referees
Please state the names and full postal addresses of two
individuals from whom the Society can obtain a reference. At least
one of the referees should be a Sheriff or other person acting in a
judicial capacity (eg chair of a tribunal) before whom you have
appeared. The other referee can be a solicitor or advocate but
should not be a business partner, employer or client. You should
advise your referees that you are giving their names for this
purpose.
6. Knowledge of Practice, Procedure and Professional
Conduct
The Council have determined that knowledge of the practice and
procedure of and professional conduct in regard to the Courts for
which the Right of Audience is being sought should be demonstrated
in two written examinations. These will be a paper on Practice and
Procedure and a paper on Professional Conduct, taken on the same
day under examination conditions in Edinburgh. The section on
professional conduct will be based on rules C4.3 and
C4.4 which may be in force from time to time, as well as
general principles of good professional conduct. The Practice and
Procedure examination will be "open book". For the avoidance of
doubt this means that printed published material may be taken into
the exam hall but handwritten, typewritten or word processed notes
may not. The Professional Conduct exam is held under strict exam
conditions with no aids. Copies of previous examination papers will
be circulated beforehand.
There will be a fee to be paid each time an Applicant sits the
examination, which will require to be paid to the Society in
advance. Further details will be issued before each diet of
examination.
Applicants who have passed the examinations for entry to the
Faculty of Advocates within the last five years or who have
practised as Advocates regularly during the time will normally be
regarded as having appropriate knowledge of the practice, procedure
and professional conduct in the Courts for which Rights of Audience
are sought.
7. Sitting-in
This will consist of mandatory Sitting-in in the Court for which
rights are sought for 6 days (including 4 days in the Appeal Court
or Inner House). Applicants with substantial experience of the
Court are entitled to seek partial exemption but will normally
require to undertake Sitting-in for the four days in the Appeal
Court/Inner House. Sitting-in means attendance at the Court of
Session/High Court of Justiciary at the hearing of a case or cases
in which the applicant or his practice unit or his employer does
not act for any of the parties (except for members of COPFS).
Applicants may find it helpful to obtain further experience of
proofs, debates or appeals in the Court of Session/High Court of
Justiciary before attending the Training Course particularly if
they have not had recent experience of that.
Sitting-in is arranged through the Society's Administration
Officer - currently Mrs. Christine Wilcox at the SSC Library in
Parliament House (Tel: 0131 225 6268 - Fax: 0131 225 2270). The SSC
Library is open from 9.30am until 4.00pm and calls to make
arrangements for Sitting-in should be made within those
hours.
Due to the volume of copying involved in providing papers and the
notification to be given to Court staff it is essential that the
Administration Officer is given 48 hours' notice of applicants'
intention to undertake Sitting-in on a particular day. Those giving
shorter notice can only be accommodated in exceptional
circumstances at the entire discretion of the Administration
Officer.
The limits of accommodation in the Parliament House mean that no
more than twelve solicitors may undertake Sitting-in on any one
day. The allocation of these places is entirely within the
discretion of the Administration Officer.
8. Training
(a) For all
applicants the Council of the Society has determined that the
Course of training requires to be self-financing and the cost per
head will depend upon the numbers participating. Details will be
circulated by the Society's Update Department at the appropriate
time.
All applicants will require to complete the Course of training to
the satisfaction of the Council. The standard to be expected of
applicants when their performance is being assessed is the standard
of a competent pleader in the Court of Session/High Court of
Justiciary as the case may be. The Council would not normally
regard an Applicant as having completed the Course to their
satisfaction if the Applicant has failed to do so after two
attempts.
A programme from a recent training Course is available as a guide.
Applicants can expect that the Course of training will follow a
similar pattern.
(b) Court of
Session
A Course extending over 4/5 days on evidence, pleading and
procedure run by a Convener appointed by the Council of the Society
will normally take place within the Society's offices. Applicants'
performance at this Course in both written and oral pleading will
be assessed to enable the Council to be satisfied that the
Applicant has completed the training in accordance with the
Act.
(c) High Court
For applicants in the High Court of Justiciary, the Course of
training will consist of a Course extending over three or four days
on evidence, pleading and procedure run by a Convener appointed by
the Council of the Society which will normally take place at the
Society's offices followed two or three weeks later by an
Assessment day in the High Court itself. Applicants' performance at
this Course, and in particular the presentation of submissions at
first instance and an Appeal, will be assessed to enable the
Council to be satisfied that the Applicant has completed the
training in accordance with the Act. Applicants may find it helpful
to sit-in during appeals against conviction in the High Court of
Justiciary before attending this Course, particularly if they have
not had recent experience of attending such appeals.
9. Further Information and Application Fees
The Council may seek further information, such as further
referees, to enable it to be satisfied in terms of the Act.
Applications must be accompanied by the non-refundable Application
Fee. Separate applications will be required - with a separate fee
payable in each - for the High Court on the one hand and the Court
of Session on the other hand.
10. Notification of Rights of Audience and Introduction to
the Court
Applicants who have satisfied the Council that they fulfil the
statutory requirements will be granted Rights of Audience by the
Council of the Society and a letter confirming that will be issued
at the relevant time. Intimation will be made by the Society to the
Lord President/Lord Justice General as the case may be and to the
Scottish Legal Aid Board. Solicitors who have been granted Rights
of Audience will be introduced formally to the Court at a brief
ceremony before a Lord Ordinary, and will not be entitled to
exercise the Rights until then. Family, friends and colleagues are
welcome to attend this ceremony. It will normally take place in the
late morning within a few weeks of intimation of Rights of Audience
having been granted. Full details will be circulated at the
relevant time.
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