Explanatory note

These Regulations are made under sections 42(6) and (7) and 48(6) and (7) of the Legal Services Act 2007 (“the 2007 Act”). Sections 42 and 48 of that Act permit the Legal Services Board (“the Board”), or a person nominated by it as provided in section 41(2), to apply in certain circumstances for a warrant authorising the Board or such a person to enter and search the premises of the approved regulator and take possession of any written or electronic records found on the premises. Those circumstances may be where the Board has given an approved regulator (within the meaning of the 2007 Act) an intervention direction under section 41 of the 2007 Act or where an order of the Lord Chancellor under section 45 has cancelled a body’s designation as an approved regulator. The application for a warrant must be made to a judge of the High Court, Circuit Judge or justice of the peace.

Regulations 2 and 3 specify the information which must be provided as part of the application for a warrant and the conditions and matters of which a judge of the High Court, Circuit judge or justice of the peace must be satisfied before issuing a warrant.

Regulation 4 specifies the form of a warrant which must be complied with when exercising the power so conferred. Regulation 5 regulates the exercise of a power conferred by a warrant.

Regulations 6 to 9 make provision as to the circumstances in which written or electronic records may be copied or must be returned.

An impact assessment has been prepared for these Regulations and is available on the Ministry of Justice website www.justice.gov.uk or may be obtained from Legal Services Reform Team, Ministry of Justice, 102 Petty France, London SW1H 9AJ.