Rights of audience before the Court of Justice of the European Union are among the priorities for continued access to EU legal practice following Brexit, the Law Society has told the government today. In a submission to the Department for Exiting the European Union and the Ministry of Justice, Chancery Lane says a key priority for legal services as part of any Brexit agreement is to ‘continue access for UK lawyers to practise law and base themselves in EU member states’.

This would include ‘maintaining, or introducing arrangements equivalent to’ EU directives on establishment and professional qualifications, mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments and maintaining collaboration in policing, security and criminal justice.

In the run-up to the prime minister's speech on the EU, the Society also calls on the government to 'ensure that legal certainty is maintained throughout the process of withdrawal so that businesses and individuals are given sufficient time to adapt to both transitional arrangements and any agreed new legal framework'. 

'English law is one of our greatest exports and has helped put Britain at the heart of the global economy,' Law Society president Robert Bourns said. 'And because the legal sector underpins the success of the UK economy, it is vital we get the future relationship with the EU right.'