Under the SRA Standards and Regulations:

1. •

   solicitors, registered European lawyers (RELs) and registered foreign lawyers (RFLs) must maintain their competence to carry out their role and keep their professional knowledge and skills up to date

2. •

   SRA-regulated firms must ensure their managers and employees are competent to carry out their role and keep their professional knowledge and skills, as well as understanding of their legal, ethical and regulatory obligations, up to date

3. •

   solicitors, RELs, RFLs and firms must all ensure the service they provide to clients is competent

The SRA’s continuing competence regime operates alongside the Code Requirements and applies to a more limited group of people—see: Who must comply with the continuing competence requirements? It does, however, provide a framework for all lawyers and their employers to assess, maintain and monitor competence.

This Practice Note looks at the SRA’s continuing competence regime, focusing on the Statement of solicitor competence, Statement of legal knowledge and how to demonstrate compliance with the requirements. Practice Note: How to assess, maintain and monitor competence considers the competence Lifecycle