Mini-budget response
New Law Journal carries reactions to the UK government’s mini-budget, noting Law Society president I. Stephanie Boyce’s comments on stamp duty threshold rises, bearing in mind the huge hike in conveyancers’ workloads as a result of the pandemic stamp duty holiday in 2021.
Stephanie said “conveyancing solicitors will now be watching and waiting to see how the changes announced will impact their workload and businesses.”
Economic Crime Bill
The Gazette and BusinessFast continue coverage of our concerns over provisions in the Economic Crime Bill to remove the £25,000 cap on fines the Solicitors Regulation Authority can impose in economic crime cases.
I. Stephanie Boyce said: “We are concerned about what the proposed additional powers could mean for our members and how effective they will be in combating economic crime.
“We strongly urge the government to consider carefully the proportionality of any further regulation, given that there has been little evidence of the effectiveness or otherwise of the most recent changes to the SRA’s fining powers.
“The proposed unlimited powers would potentially include many more serious or significant cases which currently go before the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal and we maintain that this should remain the case.”
Arbitration Act reform proposals
New Law Journal reports our response to Law Commission proposals for reform of the Arbitration Act 1996, which would see cases streamlined and arbitrators better protected.
I. Stephanie Boyce, said the Act “enabled the growth and standing of our jurisdiction as an international destination for arbitration. However, the world is not standing still”.
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