Lutfur Rahman to face Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal

The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal (SDT) has confirmed there is a case for Lutfur Rahman to answer in relation to allegations made by the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA).

The disgraced former mayor of Tower Hamlets was barred from running for political office for five years after being found guilty of corrupt and illegal practices under the Representation of the People Act 1983.

Rahman became the first person since the 19th century to be found guilty of offence of 'undue spiritual influence' under the Corrupt and Illegal Practices Act 1883 following an Election Court trial in April 2015.

Declaring the election void, Election Commissioner Richard Mawrey QC held that a letter signed by 100 Muslim clerics and published in Bengali in a newspaper demonstrated their 'participation in Rahman's campaign to persuade Muslim voters that it was their religious duty to vote for him', and had crossed the line.

Having declared himself bankrupt in December 2015 - following a High Court battle over £500,000 legal costs relating to the election court trial - Rahman lost a challenge to reduce the length of his political ban last month.

Lord Justice Lloyd and Mr Justice Supperstone did give Rahman permission to launch a judicial review into how religious leaders had used their influence to persuade voters to elect him.

Now, however, Rahman is set to face the SDT following Mawrey's referral of his case to the SRA.

The regulator alleges that, as a result of his conviction, the former east London family solicitor failed to uphold the rule of law and the proper administration of justice, act with integrity, or behave in a way that maintains the trust the public places in him and in the provision of legal services.

The allegations will be heard by the tribunal at a date to be decided, and it is for the SRA to prove the allegations true to the criminal standard of proof.

If the SDT finds allegations proven, it may issue an unlimited fine or strike Rahman from the roll.

Admitted as a solicitor in 1997, Rahman is currently listed on the Law Society's 'Find a solicitor' service as non-practising.