SRA agrees expanded terms for discrimination review

The SRA has agreed expanded terms of reference for a review into whether it discriminates against minority lawyers.

The review, by Professor Gus John, was due to report back this autumn but its results are now not expected to complete until mid-2013, according to the SRA’s latest update.

The SRA initially suggested examining 20 random files, a move deemed to be “ridiculous”, by Peter Herbert, chairman of the Society of Black Lawyers (SBL).

The new terms, agree with the SRA’s External Implementation Group (EIG), will now review 160 files, half of which will be files prepared for SDT prosecutions in which the SDT published its findings.

The other 80 will be files dealt with by internal adjudication.

The SRA said half of the files will be cases involving minority lawyers, the other half white lawyers.

EIG chair Lord Ouseley said that the review was “timely”, as “there are claims by some BME solicitors that they are not being treated fairly, when taken through the regulatory processes”.

“The profession needs to have total confidence that the regulatory processes are not in any way discriminatory.”

The EIG was set up in 2008 to work with the SRA to address issues of disproportionally among BME lawyers.

SRA chief executive Antony Townsend said that the SRA had made a lot of progress in the last four years in addressing disproportionality and promoting equality.

“Professor John’s review will help us to identify whether there is still work to be done and how we should take this forward.”

Professor Gus John is Honorary Fellow and Associate Professor at the Institute of Education, University of London.

For four years he was external evaluator for the Law Society of its performance in promoting equality and human rights.

He was also an adviser to former home secretary Jack Straw on race and social inclusion and advised on the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000.