The Legal Services Regulation Act 2015 provides for the Legal Services Regulatory Authority (LSRA) to establish an Advisory Committee on the grant of Patents of Precedence. The committee comprises the Chief Justice, the Presidents of the Court of Appeal and High Court, the Attorney General, heads of the Bar Council and Law Society of Ireland, and a lay member appointed by the Minister for Justice. The relevant part of the 2015 act was commenced in 2019. It allows the bestowal of the title "Senior Counsel" on solicitors. The LSRA advisory committee replaces an earlier advisory committee which had no statutory basis, and no solicitor or lay member. The 2015 act also specifies the criteria for both solicitors and barristers: