The Solicitors Regulation Authority has today published the ‘final draft’ of its move to principles-based regulation, which will see a radical overhaul of the current code of conduct, abolishing many of the current detailed rules in favour of 10 broad principles.

SRA chief executive Antony Townsend (pictured) said that despite solicitors’ concerns over uncertainty in the new regime, the regulator had taken the ‘controversial’ decision not to issue detailed guidance on the new principles, which will come into force in time for the introduction of alternative business structures next October.

The latest draft of the new rules, which is unlikely to be subject to any further significant changes, follows two previous consultations on the SRA’s move to outcomes-focused regulation. Key changes from the previous draft include a duty on solicitors to carry out their role in a way that ‘encourages’ equality of opportunity and respect for diversity, and a softening of the rules relating to overseas offices. In response to concerns raised after the last consultation, the new conduct rules will now only apply to overseas offices that are ‘controlled’ by solicitors.

Townsend told the Gazette that the SRA will provide only limited guidance on the rules, where appropriate, despite an ‘enthusiasm for guidance on a range of issues’ from the profession. He said the SRA had taken the view that giving guidance on the rules was ‘dangerous’, as it could detract from the principles-based approach. However, he said the SRA would give help to firms through a regular ‘frequently asked questions’ section on its website.

On the duty to ‘encourage’ equality, he added: ‘Some people argued that we should not be expecting the profession to promote equality and diversity… We did look at wording the principle in terms of "have due regard to" equality, but we wanted strengthened wording. The SRA’s view is that there is an ethical duty [to encourage equality].’

Townsend said that compliance with this principle would be ‘outcomes focused’, and influenced by the number of women and ethnic minority solicitors employed by a firm. However, he added that in regions where the pool of potential employees was less diverse, this would be taken into account. ‘We are not going to be taking disciplinary action against people simply on the grounds [of] statistics,’ he said.

Other principles under the new code include a duty to ‘uphold the rule of law’, and to ‘act with integrity’.

The consultation will close on 13 January 2011, with a finalised set of rules to be published in April. Today’s consultation will be available at the SRA website from 12pm.