Evan Wright advised a solicitor who was alleged to have acted unlawfully during a public order incident. The police offered a community resolution, rather than a formal interview and court proceedings.

The client sought advice on whether he should accept the offer and what implications it would have for his practice. Instructions suggested a possible defence in these particular circumstances.

Furthermore, Evan was asked to advise on whether the matter should be reported to the SRA and would the client have to disclose the resolution to his employer? Community Resolutions provide an opportunity for the police to deal with appropriate low level offences and offenders without recourse to formal criminal justice sanctions. This may include a simple apology, an offer of compensation or a promise to clear up any graffiti or criminal damage. Many of the crimes the police investigate are not committed by prolific, dangerous offenders. Sometimes they are a momentary lapse in judgement by otherwise law abiding people. However, accepting a community resolution in this situation would have involved a detailed consideration of reporting obligations, particularly 7.7 and 7.8 of the Solicitors Code of Conduct. The Code was changed in November 2019 to place much more responsibility upon the individual solicitor to decide whether matters should be reported to the SRA. The concern was that Paragraph 7.8 would oblige the client to inform the SRA, so that the SRA could decide whether or not to launch an investigation. The very fact of an investigation would have to be declared to his employer because of the nature of the client’s work. There were also concerns that the resolution would appear on an enhanced DBS check, even though it is not regarded as a conviction or caution for reporting purposes. The client was advised that he should seek further information from the officer about how the police proposed to describe the allegation in the ‘circumstances’ section of the resolution form, having regard to the need for an ‘admission’ and with particular reference to the potential defence. Following a conversation with the officer, the police decided not to take further action and closed their file. This removed the need for further consideration of the reporting obligations. Even though the incident was straightforward, the implications for the client’s practice could have been far reaching. The case was opened and closed within one week, incurring very limited costs.