Decision details

Whilst Solicitors have the legal right to appear in the County Court and Magistrates Court, the Council under the Constitution requires authority to institute and conduct legal proceedings to be authorised. In particular this is for an associate lawyer on behalf of the Council to under these duties

The purpose and reason for the decision is for Kevin Burns an Associate Lawyer Practising Certificate SRA number 519471 to be able to defend or participate in any legal proceedings brought against the Council (or its employees as a result of actions incurred whilst undertaking legal work for the Council) or where the Council’s interests are affected and to negotiate settlement.

To facilitate the discharge of Council functions both civil and criminal across the district in so far as relevant to the role.

Decision Maker: Monitoring Officer/Deputy Monitoring Officer
Decision status: Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No

In accordance with section 2.35.5 of the Constitution the Head of Legal & Democratic Services hereby approved and delegates authority to Kevin Burns (Associate Lawyer)(Casual)) the power to:-
Institute and conduct all civil and criminal proceedings by the Council.

Option 1 -
To approve the delegated authority as set out above

Option 2
To require the Service Manager to approve all prosecutions on behalf of casual lawyers. This would be time consuming and an inefficient use of council resources.

Recommend Option 1