Richard Hegarty, Solicitor Member of the SDT since 2009, retired on 15 August 2019. Richard, in his piece for this year’s Annual Report acknowledged the considerable changes he had seen during his time at the Tribunal including in respect of the complexity of cases.
News
Making of the Solicitors (Disciplinary Proceedings) Rules 2019
Following the Legal Services Board’s approval of the Solicitors (Disciplinary Proceedings) Rules 2019 (“SDPR”) the Statutory Instrument has now been made and can be found here.
In May 2019 the Tribunal submitted its application for the making of its proposed new rules to the Legal Services Board (“LSB”). This application included a proposed move from the criminal standard of proof (beyond reasonable doubt) to the civil standard of proof (balance of probabilities).
The SDT published its Annual Report 2018 on 25 June 2019.
Retirement of Laurence Gilford
Laurence Gilford, Solicitor Member of the SDT since 1998, retired on 31 May 2019. Laurence was one of the Tribunal’s longer serving Members.
Application for the making of proposed new Solicitors (Disciplinary Proceedings) Rules
The Tribunal has now submitted its application for the making of its proposed new rules to the Legal Services Board (“LSB”).
The 28-day initial decision period began on 7 May 2019 and ended on 3 June 2019. The LSB has extended this decision period until 4 August 2019.
The President of the Tribunal, Edward Nally, is sorry to announce the death of former Vice-President and Lay Member Ged Fisher on 13 April 2019.
Between 16 July and 8 October 2018 the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (“the Tribunal”) consulted on the making of procedural rules in relation to first instance applications to the Tribunal.
CaseLines is coming soon - transforming the way the Tribunal works
The SDT is introducing a secure, cloud based, digital court platform called CaseLines. Parties in a case will be able to upload evidence documents directly into the CaseLines system, thereby eliminating the need for paper hearing bundles.
Appointment of Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal Lay Vice-President
Stephanie Bown was appointed as Lay Vice-President of the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal on 3 March 2019 following a competitive election process and on the retirement of the previous Lay Vice-President, Millius Palayiwa. Stephanie will serve as SDT Lay Vice-President, a Director of the SDTAL
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