{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/solicitors-scotland-act-1980/section-63",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/solicitors-scotland-act-1980/section-63.json",
  "legislation": "ukpga/1980/46",
  "legislation_title": "Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/solicitors-scotland-act-1980",
  "path": "section/63",
  "kind": "section",
  "number": "63",
  "heading": "Penalties and time limit for prosecution of offences",
  "text": "(1) Any person guilty of an offence under this Act shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 4 on the standard scale . . ..\n(2) Notwithstanding any provision of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975, the prosecution of any offence under this Act shall be commenced within 6 months of its first discovery by the prosecutor or in any event within 2 years after the commission of that offence.\n(3) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a body corporate and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of or to be attributable to any neglect on the part of—\n(a) any director, secretary or other similar officer of the body corporate; or\n(b) any person who was purporting to act in any such capacity,\nhe (as well as the body corporate) shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.\n(4) Where an offence under this Act is committed by a partnership or by an unincorporated association (other than a partnership) and is proved to have been committed with the consent or connivance of a partner in the partnership or, as the case may be, a person concerned in the management or control of the association, he (as well as the partnership or association) shall be guilty of the offence and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly.",
  "extent": "S",
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F1",
      "text": "Words substituted by virtue of Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (c. 21, SIF 39:1), ss. 289F, 289G"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F2",
      "text": "Words in s. 63(1) substituted (3.6.1991) by Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 (c. 40, SIF 76:2), s. 74, Sch. 8 Pt. II para. 29(14)(a)(i); S.I. 1991/1252, art. 3, Sch. 1"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F3",
      "text": "Words in s. 63(1) repealed (3.6.1991) by Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 (c. 40, SIF 76:2), s. 74, Sch. 8 Pt. II para. 29(14)(a)(ii), Sch. 9; S.I. 1991/1252, art. 3, Sch. 1"
    },
    {
      "type": "F",
      "label": "F4",
      "text": "S. 63(3)(4) inserted (3.6.1991) by Law Reform (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Scotland) Act 1990 (c. 40, SIF 76:2), s. 74, Sch. 8 Pt. II para. 29(14)(b); 1991/1252, art. 3, Sch. 1"
    },
    {
      "type": "M",
      "label": "M1",
      "text": "1975 c.21."
    },
    {
      "type": "C",
      "label": "C1",
      "text": "S. 63 applied (with modifications) (1.10.2004) by The Solicitors (Scotland) Act 1980 (Foreign Lawyers and Multi-national Practices) Regulations 2004 (S.S.I. 2004/383), reg. 13"
    }
  ],
  "outstanding_effects": [
    {
      "type": "repealed",
      "affecting": "asp/2025/8",
      "affecting_title": "Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025"
    },
    {
      "type": "repealed",
      "affecting": "asp/2025/8",
      "affecting_title": "Regulation of Legal Services (Scotland) Act 2025"
    }
  ],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1980/46/section/63",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-29T10:15:15.254365+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}