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ASCRs were approved by the Directors of the Law Council in June 2011 and adopted as professional rules for lawyers in South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria (and soon Western Australia), Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory. ASCRs have been adopted in accordance with the procedures of each jurisdiction, which vary considerably. The Northern Territory currently has its own Code of Conduct. The following rules are out of date. See the rules relating to lawyers in the Uniform Law on the Legal Profession. The following Uniform Rules apply only to lawyers: In Uniform Law jurisdictions, subsection 427(2) of the Uniform Act empowers the Law Council to develop draft Uniform Rules on Legal Practice, Professional Development and Conduct of the Legal Professions as they apply to or relate to lawyers. The ASCR is a statement of lawyers` professional and ethical obligations under legislation, common law and equity. However, they also express the profession`s collective vision of the standards of behaviour expected of professionals. The Australian Solicitors Conduct Rules (ASCR) have been developed jointly by all state and territory bar associations and other constituent professional bodies of the Law Council, as agreed professional rules for all lawyers in Australia. Uniform rules may apply to qualified entities (including Australian lawyers, law firms and foreign lawyers registered in Australia), Australian lawyers who are not Australian lawyers, former Australian lawyers, former foreign lawyers registered in Australia, former Australian lawyers, persons applying for a licence, lay employees of law firms and authorised employees. Failure to comply with the Uniform Rules may constitute unsatisfactory professional conduct or professional misconduct. For more information on the uniform law, see these resources.

One of the issues that emerged from the 2018-2020 comprehensive review of the ASCR was the need to clarify how to apply existing ethical principles to avoid conflicts of interest between current or current and former clients of a lawyer or law firm when providing short-term legal advisory services. For more information, please refer to Legal Council`s public consultation paper entitled Public Consultation Paper on Short-Term Assistance Services. The ASCR was established as the Legal Profession Uniform Law Australian Solicitors` Conduct Rules 2015 under the Legal Profession Uniform Law (Uniform Law), which came into force in Victoria and New South Wales on 1 July 2015. A copy of the consultation working document on the Legal Board review of 1 February 2018 is available here. In Victoria and New South Wales, lawyers and law firms are subject to the same regulatory framework as the Uniform Rules for the Legal Professions developed by the Legal Services Council. These rules are set out in the Uniform Application of the Laws in the Legal Profession Act, 2014. In 2018, the Legal Board began the first comprehensive review of the ASCR since its first promulgation in June 2011. In New South Wales, the practice and regulation of the legal profession is governed by the Uniform Act, which includes: Laws: Legal profession Uniform Act (NSW) Legal profession Uniform Application of Law Act 2014 Regs: Uniform Regulations of the Legal Profession, 2015 Uniform Regulations for the Application of the Laws of the Legal Profession 2015 Rules: Uniform General Rules of the Legal Profession General Rules 2015 Admission Rules Law Australian Rules of Conduct for Lawyers 2015 Rules of Legal Practice (Lawyers) 2015 Ongoing Professional Development (Lawyers) Rules 2015 As a result of the above-mentioned reviews, the Legal Board is currently working with the Uniform Law, State and Territorial Jurisdictions to implement the revised Rules in accordance with the processes of those jurisdictions. The Legal Board regularly reviews the ASCR in consultation with its constituent bodies, regulators and other relevant stakeholders. The Professional Ethics Committee of the Legal Council supervises these examinations with the assistance of the Secretariat of the Legal Council. The following uniform rules shall apply to all applicants for authorisation: A copy of the current ASCR is available here.

In March 2020, the Directors of the Legal Board approved the recommendations of the Professional Ethics Committee regarding the examination. The Legal Board is currently working with Uniform Law and other state and territorial jurisdictions to implement the revised ASCR in accordance with the processes of those jurisdictions. For more information on how the legal profession is regulated in Australia, click here. Following the ASCR review, further amendments to Rule 42 (Anti-discrimination and harassment) were proposed. This new revision of Rule 42 is the result of the Law Council`s National Anti-Sexual Harassment Roundtable in July 2020 and subsequent consultations that fed into the Law Council`s National Action Plan to Reduce Sexual Harassment in the Australian Bar Association (NAP). Rule 11 of the Legal Profession Uniform Legal Practice (Solicitors) Rules 2015 (formerly NSW Rule 58) requires the following forms to be used in New South Wales: The Australian Solicitors Conduct Rules 2011 were updated in March and April 2015. With the exception of the deletion of former rule 29.12.5, the minor amendments did not change the content of the Rules of Procedure. The commentary is not intended to be the only source of information on the rules – detailed information is available from the constituent bodies of the Legal Council to understand the application of the ASCR to the variety of situations arising in legal practice. For the convenience of practitioners, a version of the ASCR has been created with an accompanying commentary. The commentary is intended to provide additional information and guidance to understand how certain rules may apply in certain situations. More detailed advice and support for practitioners should always be sought from their respective state and territory bar associations. The regulatory power is provided for in the Uniform Act for the Legal Profession and is defined very broadly.

Uniform Acts may be enacted for all matters which the Uniform Act requires or permits to be set out in the Uniform Acts, or which are necessary or expedient for the administration or implementation of the Uniform Act. The current commentary responds to the ASCR, which is currently in effect. The Directors of the Legal Board decided that an expanded commentary for the revised ASCR would be developed following the implementation of the above-mentioned reviews.