Operational partnerships - Solicitor misconduct SOP (Q01p)

1. Summary of changes

1.1. This standard operating procedure (SOP) has been reviewed in October 2024 – no amendments to content have been made.  

2. What this procedure is about

2.1 It outlines the process to deal with situations involving any indication or intelligence of crime, malpractice or professional misconduct committed by any solicitor.

Compliance with this SOP and any governing policy is mandatory.

3. Detail the procedure

3.1. Complaints concerning solicitors 

3.1. The chief superintendent, strategic partnerships is the nominated contact point within Kent Police for liaison with the Law Society (LS), the Solicitors Complaints Bureau and the Legal Services Commission (LSC). No communication will take place with any of these bodies except via this officer.

3.2. The purpose of establishing a force contact point for liaison with these agencies is to ensure that all solicitor complaints are dealt with a degree of uniformity and diligence.

3.3. Any indication of crime, malpractice or professional misconduct committed by any solicitor, or intelligence relating to such matters, will be made subject of a report to the superintendent of the division in which the alleged default took place. The divisional superintendent, having made any appropriate observations, will forward the report directly to the Detective Chief Superintendent, Strategic Partnerships for immediate action.

3.4. Officers will comply with Code C of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act, 1984, for guidance on the rights of the detainee in custody, the conduct and, if applicable, removal of solicitors.

3.5. Should any actual or perceived misconduct issues be reported to the force, or inappropriate criminal associations exist between a solicitor and a known criminal, Kent Police may request the firm that employs the solicitor that he/she no longer attends the custody area or interviews with suspects. Any such request should only be made after:

3.5.1.  Consideration of section 6(a) of Code C of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, Codes of Practice.

3.5.2.  Reporting the concerns in sufficient detail by way of complaint to the Law Society.

3.5.3.  Consideration of the case of R (on the application of Thompson) v. chief constable of the Northumbria Constabulary [2001] 4 All ER 354; and

3.5.4. Advice is sought from the Legal Services department.

3.6. Banning solicitors from attendance at police stations or custody suites is a serious step and will generally be inappropriate and should not occur without support from the Law Society and advice from legal services.

3.7. If a ban is to be considered, it should be specific to the police station or a defined and limited area. It would not usually be appropriate to make a request or impose a ban that covers the area of Kent and/or Medway.

4. Equality Impact Assessment (EIA)

4.1. An EIA has been carried out and shows the proposals in this procedure would have no potential or actual differential impact on grounds of race, ethnicity, nationality, gender, transgender, disability, age, religion, belief or sexual orientation.

5. Risk assessment

5.1. This SOP has been assessed as medium risk.

6. Consultation

• Northfleet Response
• West Kent DSU
• Medway PPU
• West Kent Sevenoaks / Swanley
• Neighbourhood Policing, Margate
• Human Resources
• Estates
• IT Security
• Finance
• Equality and Diversity
• Health and Safety
• Legal
• Freedom of Information

7. Monitoring and review

7.1 This procedure will be monitored by the policy owner who also has oversight of the investigative and custody processes for Kent Police. The rarity of such instances renders data gathering or regular monitoring meetings impractical.

7.2 Trends considered to be emerging in respect of solicitor misconduct allegations would be explored in anonymous forms within the Kent Criminal Justice Board partnership to identify appropriate partnership responses and arrange their implementation.

7.3 This SOP will be reviewed every two years with the next review taking place in October 2026.

8. Other source documents

None listed.

9. Security

9.1. Kent Police have measures in place to protect the security of your data in accordance with our Information Management policy.

10. Retention and disposal of records

10.1. Kent Police will hold data in accordance with our Records Review, Retention and Disposal policy.