The Law Society is pressing the Legal Services Commission (LSC) to push back the deadline for passing its immigration accreditation exams, as the LSC faces a second possible judicial review action from individual solicitors, this time on the basis that the exams disproportionately affect ethnic minorities, it has emerged.

The Law Society has requested that the 1 April deadline for solicitors to pass the exam - which is compulsory for those wishing to practise publicly funded immigration work - should be extended to 1 September, effectively allowing one more round of the exams.


A Law Society spokeswoman said the extension would mean more solicitors could be accredited. However, she emphasised that the Society is still firmly backing the exam process. An LSC decision is expected next week.


The Law Society has also agreed to set up a special group, comprising the Immigration Law Practitioners Association, the Legal Aid Practitioners Group and charity the Immigration Advisory Service, to provide feedback on problems with the scheme.


Meanwhile, Tiki Emezie, partner at C T Emezie in London, said he has been approached by ten immigration solicitors from different firms to launch a judicial review action against the LSC. He said that because so many immigration practitioners are of ethnic minority origin, the exams could breach anti-discrimination legislation unless similar exams were introduced in all other areas of publicly funded work.



The LSC has already been threatened with judicial review by Sunderland solicitor Ben Hoare, partner at Ben Hoare Bell, who claims the process is unfair (see [2005] Gazette, 17 February, 3).



Mr Emezie said: 'When I sat the exam, 98% of those sitting it were of ethnic minority origin. The law says you can't make it difficult for a particular group to meet a requirement. We say this scheme could be unlawful, and will challenge it as a matter of principle, win or lose.'


He continued: 'We want to know how many of those sitting the exams are from ethnic minorities.'


An LSC spokesman said it will begin analysing equal opportunities data on exam candidates. He said a preliminary report had assessed that the equal opportunities impact would be neutral. He added that the improvement in competence the exams will bring about will enhance services to immigration clients, who are often from ethnic minorities.