Section 7: Legal services
Article SERVIN.5.47: Scope
1. This Section applies to measures of a Party affecting the supply of designated legal services in addition to Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4 of this Title and to Sections 1 and 2 of this Chapter.
2. Nothing in this Section shall affect the right of a Party to regulate and supervise the supply of designated legal services in its territory in a non-discriminatory manner.
Article SERVIN.5.48: Definitions
For the purposes of this Section:
(a) “designated legal services” means legal services in relation to home jurisdiction law and public international law, excluding Union law;
(b) “home jurisdiction” means the jurisdiction (or a part of the jurisdiction) of the Member State or of the United Kingdom in which a lawyer acquired their home jurisdiction professional title or, in the case of a lawyer who has acquired a home jurisdiction professional title in more than one jurisdiction, any of those jurisdictions;
(c) “home jurisdiction law” means the law of the lawyer’s home jurisdiction31;
(d) “home jurisdiction professional title” means:
(i) for a lawyer of the Union, a professional title acquired in a Member State authorising the supply of legal services in that Member State; or
(ii) for a lawyer of the United Kingdom, the title of advocate, barrister or solicitor, authorising the supply of legal services in any part of the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom;
(e) “lawyer” means:
(i) a natural person of the Union who is authorised in a Member State to supply legal services under a home jurisdiction professional title; or
(ii) a natural person of the United Kingdom who is authorised in any part of the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom to supply legal services under a home jurisdiction professional title;
(f) “lawyer of the other Party” means:
(i) where “the other Party” is the Union, a lawyer referred to in point (e) (i); or
(ii) where “the other Party” is the United Kingdom, a lawyer referred to in point (e) (ii); and
(g) “legal services” means the following services:
(i) legal advisory services; and
(ii) legal arbitration, conciliation and mediation services (but excluding such services when supplied by natural persons as set out in Article SERVIN 4.1 [Scope and definitions].32
31 For greater certainty, for the purposes of this Title, European Union law is part of the home jurisdiction law of the lawyers referred to in point (e) (i) of Article SERVIN 5.48 [Definitions].
32 “Legal arbitration, conciliation and mediation services” means the preparation of documents to be submitted to, the preparation for and appearance before, an arbitrator, conciliator or mediator in any dispute involving the application and interpretation of law. It does not include arbitration, conciliation and mediation services in disputes not involving the application and interpretation of law, which fall under services incidental to management consulting. It also does not include acting as an arbitrator, conciliator or mediator. As a sub-
“Legal services” do not include legal representation before administrative agencies, the courts, and other duly constituted official tribunals of a Party, legal advisory and legal authorisation, documentation and certification services supplied by legal professionals entrusted with public functions in the administration of justice such as notaries, “huissiers de justice” or other “officiers publics et ministériels”, and services supplied by bailiffs who are appointed by an official act of government.
Article SERVIN.5.49: Obligations
1. A Party shall allow a lawyer of the other Party to supply in its territory designated legal services under that lawyer’s home jurisdiction professional title in accordance with Articles SERVIN 2.2 [Market access], SERVIN 2.3 [National treatment], SERVIN 3.2 [Market access], SERVIN 3.4 [National treatment] and SERVIN 4.4. [Contractual service suppliers and independent professionals].
2. Where a Party (the host jurisdiction) requires registration in its territory as a condition for a lawyer of the other Party to supply designated legal services pursuant to paragraph 1, the requirements and process for such registration shall not:
(a) be less favourable than those which apply to a natural person of a third country who is supplying legal services in relation to third country law or public international law under that person’s third-country professional title in the territory of the host jurisdiction; and
(b) amount to or be equivalent to any requirement to requalify into or be admitted to the legal profession of the host jurisdiction.
3. Paragraph 4 applies to the provision of designated legal services pursuant to paragraph 1 through establishment.
4. A Party shall allow a legal person of the other Party to establish a branch in its territory through which designated legal services33 are supplied pursuant to paragraph 1, in accordance with and subject to the conditions set out in Chapter 2 [Investment Liberalisation] of this Title. This shall be without prejudice to requirements that a certain percentage of the shareholders, owners, partners, or directors of a legal person be qualified or practice a certain profession such as lawyers or accountants.
Article SERVIN.5.50: Non-conforming measures
1. Article 5.49 [Obligations] does not apply to:
(a) any existing non-conforming measure of a Party at a level of:
(i) for the Union:
(A) the Union, as set out in the Schedule of the Union in Annex SERVIN-1 [Existing measures];
(B) the central government of a Member State, as set out in the Schedule of the Union in Annex SERVIN-1 [Existing measures];
(C) a regional government of a Member State, as set out in the Schedule of the Union in Annex SERVIN-1 [Existing measures]; or
category, international legal arbitration, conciliation or mediation services refers to the same services when the dispute involves parties from two or more countries.
33 For greater certainty, for the purposes of this paragraph “designated legal services” means, for services supplied in the Union, legal services in relation to the law of the United Kingdom or any part of it and public international law (excluding Union law), and for services supplied in the United Kingdom, legal services in relation to the law of the Member States (including Union law) and public international law (excluding Union law).
(D) a local government, other than that referred to in point (C); and
(ii) for the United Kingdom:
(A) the central government, as set out in the Schedule of the United Kingdom in Annex SERVIN-1 [Existing measures];
(B) a regional government, as set out in the Schedule of the United Kingdom in Annex SERVIN-1 [Existing measures]; or
(C) a local government;
(b) the continuation or prompt renewal of any non-conforming measure referred to in point (a); or
(c) a modification to any non-conforming measure referred to in points (a) and (b) to the extent that it does not decrease the conformity of the measure as it existed immediately before the modification with Article SERVIN 5.49 [Obligations].
2. Article SERVIN 5.49 [Obligations] does not apply to any measure of a Party which is consistent with the reservations, conditions or qualifications specified with respect to a sector, subsector or activity listed in Annex SERVIN-2 [Future Measures].
3. This Section applies without prejudice to Annex SERVIN-4 [Contractual service suppliers and independent professionals].