The Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board is the regulatory organisation and

professional association A professional association (also called a professional body, professional organization, or professional society) usually seeks to advocacy, further a particular profession, the interests of individuals and organisations engaged in that professio ...

for authorised

conveyancer In most Commonwealth countries, a conveyancer is a specialist lawyer who specialises in the legal aspects of buying and selling real property, or conveyancing. A conveyancer can also be (but need not be) a solicitor, licensed conveyancer, or a fe ...

s in the United Kingdom. Created in 1990 by the

Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 (c. 41) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed the legal profession and courts of England and Wales. The Act was the culmination of a series of reports and reforms that started with ...

, the Practitioners Board oversees authorised conveyancers in the United Kingdom, advising the

Lord Chancellor The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...

on conveyancing matters, regulating authorised conveyancers and preventing the creation of conveyancing monopolies like those that existed before the 1990 act. As part of its duties, the Practitioners Board maintains several other regulatory bodies, such as the conveyancing appeal tribunals and the Conveyancing Ombudsman.

Creation

Before the passing of the

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...

s had a near-complete monopoly on conveyancing work. The introduction of licensed conveyancers with the passage of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 did little to change the situation,White (1991) p.5 with no great switch in conveyancing work from solicitors to licensed conveyancers.White (1991) p.6Slapper (2001) p.500 In an attempt to disrupt this monopoly and act on the conclusions of the Civil Justice Review, the British Government passed the

, one of the aims of which was to widen the field of who could become a conveyancer. As such, Section 34 of the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 established the Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board as a

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

.White (1991) p.46

Remit

The Practitioners Board is tasked with developing competition in

conveyancing In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contracts ...

services to avoid monopolies, supervising the actions of licensed conveyancers and developing a way of monitoring said conveyancers. The Practitioners Board has the powers to both grand and refuse authorisation to conveyancing practitioners, establish a conveyancing

ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

and a compensation scheme for parties that suffer as a result of a conveyancer's actions appoint investigators to look into the behaviour of an authorised conveyancer. In terms of who can become a conveyancer – Section 36 removes limits on who can act as a

, and allows any individual, corporation or employee of a corporation to act as a conveyancer if they or the corporation is suitably qualified.White (1991) p.61 Qualified people are defined as

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and ...

s, licensed conveyancers and

notaries A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems. A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...

, as well as any companies and incorporated bodies found in Section 9 of the Administration of Justice Act 1985. These people can apply to become authorised conveyancers by applying to the Authorised Conveyancing Practitioners Board.White (1991) p.63 To allow an applicant to act as an authorised conveyancer, the Practitioners Board must be convinced that the applicant is a "fit and proper person" to carry out this business, and that the applicant will follow the rules and regulations established by the Practitioners Board. The board can refuse applications, although they must provide a reason, which the applicant is entitled to reply to in writing within 28 days of it being issued.White (1991) p.65 The Practitioners Board can also suspend a conveyancer or revoke his authorisation to provide conveyancing circumstances, which can be for a fixed or indefinite period. The board also maintains a compensation scheme for compensating individuals who lose money as a result of dishonest behaviour by authorised practitioners or the employees of authorised practitioners, which is paid for out of the annual fees authorised conveyancers pay each year.

Structure

The Practitioners Board consists of a chairman and between four and eight other members appointed by the

, who has to take into account "

he need He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

to provide a proper balance between the interests of authorised practitioners and those who make use of their services" when appointing members.White (1991) p.45 As with the Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct, no

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

may be a member of the Board. Members hold their position for three years, and as with the Advisory Committee they are provided with money for a staff and running costs. They are expected to submit a report once a year to the Lord Chancellor. Sections 41 and 42 establish conveyancing appeals tribunals which hear complaints against decisions made by the Practitioners Board.White (1991) p.47 Decisions of the Board which are appealed do not take effect until the appeal process is complete. The tribunals are made up of three members – two lay persons (classified as people who are not practising legal professionals) and one legal professional.White (1991) p.48 Any appeals to tribunal decisions go to the High Court. Section 43 of the Act establishes a Conveyancing Ombudsman who investigates complaints against authorised practitioners. This individual is paid for by the Practitioners Board, and presents an annual report to the Board detailing his activities.White (1991) p.70

References

Bibliography

* * {{Legal services in the United Kingdom 1990 establishments in the United Kingdom Legal organisations based in England and Wales Organizations established in 1990 Legal regulators of the United Kingdom