Registered Foreign Lawyers Order 2009

I am grateful to the Minister for his introduction of these two orders. I declare an interest as a practising lawyer. As I have spent considerable time practising in Hong Kong, Asia and the West Indies, I have some experience of practising abroad. We welcome these orders. We think it right that foreign and European lawyers who are registered in this country should be subject to the same degrees of discipline and control as UK-approved lawyers. The noble Lord, Lord Henley, raised the issue of reciprocity. I, too, would be interested to know whether it is possible for a lawyer from England and Wales to practise without hindrance in Scotland and Europe and the other parts of the world from which we have allowed registered foreign lawyers to come here. The noble Lord, Lord Jones, has raised the question of how many lawyers we have registered—and from what parts of the world, I would add to that—so that we can see the scope of the issue. I am most grateful to the noble Lord for his introduction of these orders.