Brexit need not affect professional regulation: Faculty

Devolved regulation of the professions in the UK should be unaffected by leaving the EU, the Faculty of Advocates has insisted.

Faculty was responding to the UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS), which had sought views on the recognition of professional qualifications and regulation of professions, as the UK Government aimed to “determine whether or not there would be merit in having a UK-wide, cross-sectoral strategy for the regulation of the professions”.

 In its response Faculty says the current system generally works well and no persuasive argument has been made for switching to a centralised strategy. The professions are so varied, it would seem impossible to have a “one size fits all” rule. It notes that in apparent recognition of the need for local regulation, the current Internal Market Bill exempts the legal profession from its common access principle.

“The call for evidence seems very much focused on the role of professional standards regulation in any future trade deals which the UK may enter into”, it comments. “The Faculty would suggest that the key consideration ought to be protection of the public, whether that be those living or working in the UK, or those who require to do business with UK-based professionals.”

Faculty also disputes any suggestion “that there is a tension between on the one hand maintaining high standards which protect the public, and on the other hand promoting social mobility and access to the professions: the Faculty does not accept that those important goals are in opposition to each other or represent a binary choice. It would be insulting to suggest that social mobility in the UK can only be increased by lowering the standards of the services provided by the professions”.

Further, “As the call for evidence notes, the regulation of the various professions is decentralised and has developed in response to the needs of specific sectors, markets and public interest: no persuasive argument is made in favour of a centralised system which is not geared to the needs and responsibilities of each individual profession.

“To take the specific example of lawyers practising in Scotland, it will be apparent that consumer protection demands that those offering their services to the public have an in-depth knowledge of Scots law, as the knowledge of another legal system will not suffice.”

It observes that the call for evidence does not explain how a UK-wide, cross-sectoral strategy could be achieved in the context of the UK's current constitutional framework, or “how the devolution system is to be preserved, and not undermined, in any new system of mutual recognition of professional qualifications”.

Rules are already in place to allow transfer/cross qualification from one part of the UK to another, and “That approach generally works satisfactorily; we see no case for any different regulatory approach simply as a result of leaving the European Union.”

Click here to view the full response.