In order to design and enforce rules that will benefit legal services users, regulators must know the problems that consumers are facing and understand consumer attitudes and behaviour. Regulators can also provide information that can help consumers to find appropriate legal advice.
Like many consumer organisations, the Legal Services Consumer Panel uses the seven consumer principles, developed by the international consumer movement over the last few decades, to work out how particular issues or policies are likely to affect consumers. We have developed a simple tool based on the principles to help regulators think about the consumer interest in a structured way. The principles are a set of reference points or prompts designed to identify issues and ask questions that need to be looked into further. The tool was written in collaboration with the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, which gives us confidence that it will be of real practical assistance to regulators.
The Panel has also assisted the regulators in engaging directly with the public by holding two workshops. The idea for the Legal Choices website was conceived following the first of these events. The website provides useful information for consumers and allows them to contribute to policy development.
Key documents
Date:
30 January 2014
Title:
The consumer interest (pdf, 252kb)
Description:
A tool to help regulators work out the consumer interest
Date:
30 January 2014
Title:
Checklist (pdf, 53kb)
Description:
The consumer principles checklist
Date:
30 January 2014
Title:
Example (pdf, 4kb)
Description:
An example of the consumer principles
Date:
5 December 2012
Title:
Consumer Engagement Workshop Report 2012 (pdf, 103kb)
Description:
The Panel’s report on its consumer engagement workshop which took place in November 2012
Date:
2 August 2010
Title:
Consumer Engagement Workshop Report (pdf, 171kb)
Description:
Consumer Panel’s report on its consumer engagement workshop in August 2010
