Debate contribution: The draft Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) (Extension to Switzerland etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025

Debate contribution by Mr John O'Dowd on 31 March 2025.

MLA

Mr John O'Dowd

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

31 March 2025

Type

Debate contribution (made as a minister)

Business

Executive Committee Business

Heading

The draft Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) (Extension to Switzerland etc.) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2025

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4871555

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I beg to move

Go raibh maith agat, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle.

The regulations give effect to an agreement on the recognition of professional qualifications that the UK and Switzerland signed in June 2023 that relates to the legal profession here. Supporting regulations have been made in Westminster for a variety of professions. The British Government's regulations place a duty on the Law Society and Bar Council here to recognise comparable Swiss professional qualifications and provide them with the necessary legal powers to do so. They do not, however, make certain required changes to our local legislation, the Solicitors Order 1976, hence the need for the Department to make the regulations. The draft regulations ensure a smooth and transparent system for Swiss legal professionals to have their qualifications recognised, thus providing certainty for those who want to work here. It is worth noting, however, that there have been no applications in the past five years from Swiss lawyers to work here, and I do not expect there to be a sudden influx of applications arising from the agreement. In parallel, Switzerland has passed legislation that requires Swiss regulators to recognise our qualifications, meaning that professionals from here also benefit, as a result of reduced barriers to their working in Switzerland. I am using powers that are contained in sections 3(1), 3(2) and 13(1) of the Professional Qualifications Act 2022 to make the regulations. The Act's powers were first used in December 2023, when the British Government implemented the recognition of professional qualifications provisions resulting from the UK's free trade agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein through the Recognition of Professional Qualifications and Implementation of International Recognition Agreements (Amendment) Regulations 2023. I will hereafter refer to those regulations as the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) regulations. The provisions under the agreement are very similar to those in the UK's free trade agreement with Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, with Switzerland since added as a specified state to the EFTA regulations. The draft regulations are subject to the Assembly's affirmation and will come into force tomorrow, 1 April. I will now outline the regulations that give effect to the agreement. They place a legal duty on regulators — in this instance, the Law Society and the Bar Council — to recognise comparable Swiss qualifications that relate to the legal profession. They prescribe the procedures that regulators must follow in recognising Swiss qualifications. They enable regulators to refuse to recognise Swiss professional qualifications where certain conditions are not met. They prescribe compensatory measures that regulators can require a Swiss professional to take in certain circumstances, such as completing an adaptation period. They amend sectoral legislation to enable regulators to meet those requirements, which regulators do not currently have the power to do. I assure the Assembly that, under the draft regulations, it remains the regulators' responsibility to set standards for the profession and to decide who meets those standards. Regulators will need to decide whether a qualification from Switzerland is comparable to our qualifications, and they can refuse to recognise a qualification where certain conditions are not met. The regulations prescribe compensatory measures that a professional can be required to take. In accordance with a statutory duty under section 15 of the Professional Qualifications Act, the Whitehall Department for Business and Trade (DBT) carefully consulted regulators about the implementation of the agreement. A formal consultation ran from February to April 2024 that sought views on the implementation approach and on the regulations. Respondents were supportive. DBT also consulted devolved Administrations in 2024, including here, in accordance with a statutory duty under section 17 of the Professional Qualifications Act. Our response to the consultation was published on the GOV.UK website. My officials further engaged with the Law Society and the Bar Council before our draft regulations were developed and laid in the Assembly. The regulations will bring into effect the recognition of professional qualification systems contained in the agreement as they relate to the legal profession here. They will ensure that we are meeting our obligations under international law and will provide certainty for regulators and professionals now that the provisions in the Swiss Citizens' Rights Agreement (SCRA) have expired. Qualified professionals from here who are looking to practise in Switzerland will continue to have access to a streamlined recognition process. I commend the draft regulations to the Assembly.

723 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

Not flagged

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:15 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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