Other vacancies
VACANCY: THE KING’S COUNSEL SELECTION PANEL – BARRISTER MEMBER
The Bar Council has been asked to nominate one barrister to the KCA Selection Panel, beginning 20 February2024.
About the KCA Selection Panel
The Panel recommends advocates for appointment as King’s Counsel (KC). The KC rank identifies excellence in advocacy in the higher courts. It is the most significant award available to an advocate, whether solicitor or barrister.
The Selection Panel normally contains eleven members—two senior barristers, two senior solicitors, two retired senior judge and five lay members. Legal and lay members play an equal part in all the work of the Panel, but the Chair is always drawn from amongst the lay members. It is essential that all the members should be of very high calibre: the Panel has significant responsibilities for making decisions with a real impact on the practice of law at the highest level.
About the role
Further information about the Panel can be found in the information pack: KCA Selection Panel Appointment Information pack.
If you have an enquiry which is not covered by that information, please feel free to call the Committees Governance Officer, Isi Onwukwe-Anyadike, on 020 7611 1465.
Skills and personal attributes
Panel members must be available for a minimum of 32 days a year mostly between July and October. Appointments will initially be for a two-year period, which may be extended to a maximum of five years. Meetings will be held in London. Remuneration is based on a daily rate to reflect the important and demanding nature of the work.
As a member of the Panel you must be able to demonstrate an ability to sift through complex evidence from multiple sources in order to reach incisive, reliable and reasoned judgements. To command public confidence and respect, you must display a proven commitment to equality of opportunity and diversity. You will have well-developed interviewing skills (although training will be provided) and have held a senior position of authority.
How to apply
Download the KCA Selection Panel Appointment Information pack.
Subject to the principle of appointment on merit, the professional bodies regard it as important that the composition of the Selection Panel should itself be diverse. Applications from all sections of the community are welcomed. Of the nine members who will continue on the Selection Panel next year four are men and five are women; six are white and three are from a minority ethnic group.
Applicants should send a copy of their CV accompanied by a short written statement stating their suitability for the role and describing their skills and experience, to:
Isi Onwukwe-Anyadike, Committees Governance Officer [email protected]
The closing date for applications is 10am, Monday 18 December 2023
THE FREE REPRESENTATION UNIT (FRU) – 3 x TRUSTEE VACANCIES
TERM: 4 year initial term
The Bar Council is looking to nominate one barrister trustee for the Free Representation Unit.
The Free Representation Unit (FRU) is a registered charity and company limited by guarantee that was formed 1972 by bar students. The charity has two objectives; to relieve poverty by providing free representation in court and tribunal hearings and to contribute to the education and training of the legal profession.
In practice FRU represents clients in social security appeals in the first tier tribunal and upwards and in the Employment Tribunal and Employment Appeal Tribunal. FRU trains over 600 aspiring lawyers each year in these subjects and up to 350 volunteers take on cases each year, making us one of the largest providers of pro bono advocacy in the UK.
Day to day management of the Unit is undertaken by a chief executive and eight other paid staff.
The role
The role of the trustee is to:
- support the work of the staff and volunteers (but not get involved in the legal cases)
- oversee the running of the charity by giving strategic direction
- ensure that the Articles of Association are complied with
- discharge the legal duties of a charity trustee (for example reporting and publishing accounts)
Trustees currently attend two – three meetings per annum and ensure that they keep in touch with organisational developments, we plan to extend this to meeting every two months. There are currently three trustees, two of who act as senior trustees. The Chair of the Bar has the right to nominate one FRU trustee, in recognition of the close ties between the two organisations.
The term of appointments is for four years.
Skills and personal qualities
Trustees should have a commitment to promoting pro bono legal activity, the ability to act as an ambassador for FRU to our stakeholders, an understanding of the legal pro bono sector, the ability to shape the direction of the organisation so that its objectives are met in a continually changing context and a commitment to ensuring accountability for the work of the charity.
Further information
FRU is based at 10/11 Gray’s Inn Square, Gray’s Inn. FRU meetings are typically held by Teams in the evening. Further information can be obtained from David Abbott, FRU Chief Executive at [email protected] or 020 7611 9567.
Eligibility and how to apply
FRU trustees are appointed by the Chair of the Bar Council. A person is eligible to be appointed if they are a member of the Bar or holds judicial office. Appointments are made for four years.
It is important that the Bar Council reflects the diversity of the society that the Bar serves, and applications from all sections of the community are welcomed.
Applicants should send a copy of their CV accompanied by a short written statement stating their suitability for the role and describing their skills and experience, to:
Isi Onwukwe-Anyadike, Governance and Committees Manager, ionwukwe-anyadike@[email protected].
The closing date for applications is 10am 15 December 2023.
Civil Procedure Rule Committee – Vacancies for Two Legally Qualified Members PAT160087
Role description
Members of the Committee have collective responsibility for the operation of the CPRC.
They must:
- Engage fully in collective consideration of the issues, taking account of the full range of relevant factors, including any guidance issued by the Ministry of Justice or by the Lord Chancellor.
- Ensure that its responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act (including prompt responses to public requests for information) are discharged, agree an Annual Report; and, where practicable and appropriate, hold at least one public meeting a year.
- Respond appropriately to complaints, if necessary, with reference to the Ministry of Justice.
- Ensure that the Committee does not exceed its powers or functions.
Communications between the Committee and the Lord Chancellor will generally be through the Chair. Nevertheless, any Committee member has the right of access to Ministers on any matter which he or she believes raises important issues relating to his or her duties as a Committee member. In such cases the agreement of other members of the Committee should normally be sought.
From time to time issues of a confidential nature may arise during Committee work. The duty of confidentiality obliges members to respect the confidentiality of such work. Confidential information that members obtain during the course of membership of the Committee must not be used for the benefit of own or others use.
Person specification
Essential criteria
- Applicants must have up to date knowledge of the civil courts
- Interest in the broad field of law concerning civil courts and the rule making process;
- Commitment to reflecting the needs of end users in that process;
- Evidence of committee working and relevant inter-personal skills;
- Ability to deal confidently with legal specialists – judiciary and lawyers; and
- A commitment to valuing diversity.
They must:
- Engage fully in collective consideration of the issues, taking account of the full range of relevant factors, including any guidance issued by the Ministry of Justice or by the Lord Chancellor.
- Ensure that its responsibilities under the Freedom of Information Act (including prompt responses to public requests for information) are discharged, agree an Annual Report; and, where practicable and appropriate, hold at least one public meeting a year.
- Respond appropriately to complaints, if necessary, with reference to the Ministry of Justice.
- Ensure that the Committee does not exceed its powers or functions.
Communications between the Committee and the Lord Chancellor will generally be through the Chair. Nevertheless, any Committee member has the right of access to Ministers on any matter which he or she believes raises important issues relating to his or her duties as a Committee member. In such cases the agreement of other members of the Committee should normally be sought.
From time to time issues of a confidential nature may arise during Committee work. The duty of confidentiality obliges members to respect the confidentiality of such work. Confidential information that members obtain during the course of membership of the Committee must not be used for the benefit of own or others use.
How to apply
Application deadline: 5 December 2023