Electoral and other Publicity Material
The Professional Conduct and Complaints Committee (now known as the Conduct Committee) has been asked to consider and give guidance to the profession on the extent to which practising barristers may properly make reference to their work in publicity material produced for other purposes (for example, in support of the barrister’s candidature for electoral office).
In the view of the Professional Conduct and Complaints Committee (now known as the Conduct Committee), similar principles apply to such publicity material as to advertising or promotional material produced for the purpose of advancing a barrister’s practice. In particular, the prohibitions in Paragraph 710.2 of the Code of Conduct will apply, excluding for example:
- inaccurate or misleading statements
- statements likely to diminish public confidence in the legal profession or the administration of justice
- statements about the barrister’s rate
Statements inconsistent with the cab-rank rule (such as references to being a “tough prosecutor” or a “campaigner for women’s rights” in the context of one’s professional activities).
Subject to that, it is entirely proper for barristers to refer to their professional activities in support of their candidature, saying for example that as a result of their work they are familiar with the problems of crime, poverty, bad housing etc.
As with all matters of professional conduct, the Secretariat of the Bar Council are available to give confidential guidance to individual barristers, referring the query to practitioner members of the Profession Conduct and Complaints Committee (now known as the Conduct Committee) where appropriate.
