Rehabilitation
A. Solicitors
Applications for restoration to the roll of solicitors are made to the SDT.159 They must be supported by an affidavit setting out details of the original order of the Tribunal, the history of the applicant’s employment since the order was made and the applicant’s future intentions as to employment within the profession in the event that the application is successful.
The main factors that are considered in applications for restoration to the roll are the length of time since striking off, the extent to which the offender has been rehabilitated and re-employment prospects. The tribunal must be satisfied that sufficient time has elapsed since striking off. It normally expects at least six years to have passed since the date of the original order.The Tribunal approaches applications for restoration as a question of whether the applicant has established that he is now a fit and proper person to have his name
157 ibid, reg 16.
158 ibid, reg 16(g).
159 SRA, Disciplinary Procedure Rules 2011 (Version 7) r 9(1)(a). restored to the roll.[1375] Evidence of rehabilitation would normally include employment, either in the solicitors’ profession or in a position of trust in a legal environment. The tribunal might expect to see evidence that another solicitor would be willing to employ the applicant in connection with a legal practice. Rehabilitation might also be evidenced in other ways. The tribunal would expect to see a sustained effort to clear liability to the Solicitors’ Compensation Fund, for example.
According to the SDT website, a criminal conviction involving dishonesty, or a finding of dishonesty by the Tribunal, is an all but insurmountable obstacle to a successful application for restoration.[1376] It cites a statement by the Master of the Rolls in 1993 that solicitors seeking restoration must prove more than fitness to be a solicitor.
They must also show that restoration would not adversely affect the good name and reputation of the solicitors’ profession or be contrary to the interests of the public. It warns that the Tribunal should not and will not be swayed by evidence of hardship.The Solicitors Act provides that no solicitor shall, except with written permission granted under the section, ‘employ or remunerate in connection with his practice’ any person who to his knowledge is struck off, suspended or bankrupt.[1377] The SRA considers applications for permission, which are unlikely to be granted where the striking off involved dishonesty.[1378] Permission will not cover activities reserved to solicitors and may be subject to other conditions. In cases of refusal, appeal is to the High Court, which may also impose conditions on employment.
Restoration to the roll is likely to be difficult to achieve when relevant employment is almost a prerequisite. Striking off often involves an element of dishonesty. Dishonesty is itself a significant barrier to restoration to the roll, but it is also a potential bar to employment in a solicitor’s firm. It is surprising, therefore, that any solicitors are successful in being restored to the roll. Nevertheless, in the five years between 2007 and 2012, three applications to the SDT for restoration to the roll succeeded and 15 were refused.[1379] Over the same period, three applications for defining or lifting terms of indefinite suspensions succeeded and five were refused.
B. Barristers
Barristers who seek to return to the bar following disbarment must apply to an Inn. As with all other candidates for admission, the Inn will consider whether the former barrister is a fit and proper person to be admitted. In some circumstances, for example, where there has been a criminal conviction or disciplinary misconduct,[1380] the Inn must refer the matter to to the Inns’ Conduct Committee to decide whether it can re-admit the barrister.[1381] Barristers suspended under the Fitness to Practice Regulations can seek a review of their suspension on the grounds that their circumstances have changed.[1382]
VIII.