What Reserved Legal Activities am I authorised to carry on as a Member?

In accordance with the Legal Services Act 2007 (‘the 2007 Act’), the only reserved legal activity Fellows of CILEX are automatically entitled to carry on independently is the administration of oaths. Other members have no independent entitlement to carry on any of the reserved legal activities.

Details of what constitutes reserved legal activities can be found in schedule 2 of the 2007 Act, and can be seen here.

If you are employed by, and working under the supervision of, an authorised person (i.e. CILEX Practitioner, solicitor, barrister, licensed conveyancer), in a law firm or in-house, you may carry on some reserved legal activities that the authorised person is entitled to carry on, by virtue of working under the supervision and direction of that authorised person. This is because you will come under the ‘exemptions’ in the 2007 Act.

Members employed in solicitors’ firms meet the exemption requirements under the 2007 Act, enabling them to carry out the following reserved legal activities (as an exempt person rather than an authorised person):

• exercise a right of audience in chambers hearings in the county court, high court and family court (if they are assisting an authorised person);
• Reserved instrument activities (conveyancing); and
• Probate activities;
• The Legal Services Act 2007 makes no provision for unauthorised people to carry out litigation under supervision. Therefore, without being authorised to conduct litigation, members can only support authorised individuals to conduct litigation, rather than conducting litigation themselves under supervision of an authorised person.

There appears to be an anomaly in respect of notarial activities. The Act allows such activities to be carried out by non-authorised persons for no fee, gain or reward. However, if a document needs to be signed by a notary public will not be accepted if signed by anyone else. Members of CILEX cannot carry out notarial activities, unless they go on to qualify as a Notary. Learn more on how to qualify as a Notary here.

If you wish to become authorised, so that you can carry out these reserved legal activities as an authorised person, you can apply to be authorised.

For authorisation for probate or conveyancing, you are not required to be a Fellow, but for immigration and for litigation (civil, criminal or family), you are required to be a Fellow, and will need to obtain both litigation and the related advocacy rights.

You can read more about obtaining these rights here.

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