Five things the Bar Council did this month

In October 2019, the Bar Council released its 2018/19 Annual Report, held the fifth annual  Pupillage Fair at King's College London and responded to the Law Commission's consultation paper on 'Building Families Through Surrogacy: A New Law'. Over and above these activities and successes, here's a more detailed glimpse at some of the work we have undertaken over the past month.

1. In conjunction with The Law Society, the Bar Council hosted Bar leaders from around the world at ceremonies and events designed to mark the Opening of the Legal Year. As well as the annual service in Westminster Abbey, lawyers were given the opportunity to discuss the 2019 Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil or Commercial Matters at a packed seminar on global enforcement issues in private international law. The visiting Bar leaders were also invited to a roundtable at the House of Lords, where they discussed the current state of their respective justice systems.

2. The Bar Council's response to the Bar Standards Board's ('BSB') 'Call for Evidence to help improve BSB Handbook' was reported by Legal Futures, The Times and the Law Society Gazette. In our response, we strongly criticised the BSB for bombarding barristers with updates to its handbook and warned that any "fundamental reconsideration" was likely to be "overwhelming" and cause "confusion and disruption".  We have urged the BSB "not to implement any significant change in their approach from the current BSB handbook at this stage" and to consider "the dangers of such continual amendment [which] may ultimately be counter-productive to effective regulation."

3. We marked Black History month with a BarTalk "showcase": three barrister blogs designed to highlight the importance of diversity at the Bar beyond the month of October. Miranda Grell discussed how those in positions of privilege at the Bar can also become allies to under-represented groups, Karen Safo asked whether initiatives aimed at diversifying the profession are enough, and Abimbola Johnson invited non-black barristers to consider how they view Black History Month, particularly where their own workplace and/or social circle is not particularly diverse.

4. For the first time, members of the Bar were given the opportunity to vote for future members of Bar Council through their MyBar accounts. The introduction of online voting forms part of our wider Digital and Information Strategy and follows the launch of our ID card mobile app (which allows barristers to gain easier entry to courts) and ' Spot' (a confidential platform through which barristers can record their experiences of bullying, harassment and discrimination).

5. Chair of the Bar, Richard Atkins QC, criticised the Ministry of Justice for "effectively airbrushing out of history the role of barristers in the criminal courts" in its new defendant guides. Mr Atkins QC expressed surprise at the publications and asked for a correction "as a matter of urgency".

Many of these activities would not have been possible without the funds we've received through the voluntary Bar Representation Fee. To pay your Bar Representation Fee log on to MyBar, email MemberServices@BarCouncil.org.uk or call 020 7611 1329.

In September 2019, the Bar Council announced the timetable for Pupillage Gateway 2019/20, ditched paper ballots in elections for members of the Bar Council and introduced online voting. Over and above these activities and successes, here's a more detailed glimpse at some of the work we have undertaken in September 2019.

1. In a bid to tackle bullying, harassment and discrimination, we launched a new chat tool, Talk to Spot (or 'Spot'). Spot is intended to provide barristers with a confidential platform through which they can record their experiences quickly and easily. Barristers can use the app to anonymously report inappropriate behaviour by making a contemporaneous record of their experience and sending it on to their chambers, employer, or any other relevant body (including the Bar Council).
   
   The introduction of Spot forms part of our wider Digital and Information Strategy and follows the launch of our ID card mobile app (which allows barristers to gain easier entry to courts) and online voting for the Bar Council's annual election process.
    
2. Members of the Bar Council's Law Reform Committee met with the Law Commission to discuss the Law Commission's review of the current hate crime legislation in the UK.  The Law Commission is looking into theadequacy and parity of protection offered by the law relating to hate crime and to make recommendations for its reform. 
   
   Issues discussed included whether the current test of "hostility" is the right threshold and whether its meaning is sufficiently clear, whether hate crime laws are well understood by practitioners including by the judiciary, whether there should be additional protected characteristics such as gender and age, and whether the balance struck in the current offences of 'stirring up hatred' is the right one.  Members of the committee also discussed how the legislation could be amended and if it could be made clearer for practitioners, the police and jurors.
   
   The Law Commission are expected to publish the consultation in spring 2020.
    
3. The Bar Council revealed 10 new social mobility advocates for its #IAmTheBar campaign. Now in its second year, the scheme aims to reach young people who may not have considered a career at the Bar by sharing barristers' personal stories about how they entered the legal profession. The new advocates include barristers who arrived in the UK as refugees without speaking a word of English, and others who have been homeless, lived in extreme poverty or experienced family upheaval in their early lives.
    
4. We published a new Ethics and Practice FAQs document on our Ethics and Practice Hub. Drafted by our Regulatory Affairs, Law Reform and Ethics Policy Manager and approved by our Ethics Committees, these new FAQs are designed to help chambers professionals by providing answers to commonly asked questions around barristers' personal interactions with others, outside of their professional practice. The scenarios covered include personal disputes between the barrister and a lay person, relationships between barristers and their colleagues in chambers, including chambers professionals and pupil barristers, and relationships between barristers and their professional or lay clients.
    
5. As part of the Bar Council's ongoing strategy to develop knowledge about the international legal services of the Bar among law firms in Latin America, we travelled to Mexico for English Law Week and then on to Bogotá for English Law Day.
   
   Both Mexico and Colombia are important and growing legal markets and, by bringing together lawyers from the respective jurisdictions to enhance their existing knowledge on areas of English law most relevant to local practitioners, we broaden the business development opportunities available to members of the Bar.

Many of these activities would not have been possible without the funds we've received through the voluntary Bar Representation Fee. To pay your Bar Representation Fee log on to MyBar, email MemberServices@BarCouncil.org.uk or call 020 7611 1329.

In July 2019, the Bar Council celebrated its 125th anniversary and 100 years of women in law. We also launched a new Bar Council video for its #IAmTheBar social mobility campaign and, in conjunction with the Law Society and CILEx, a Women in Law pledge to help support and progress gender equality within the legal profession. Over and above these activities and successes, here's a more detailed glimpse at some of the work we have undertaken in July 2019.

1. The Chair of the Bar, Richard Atkins QC, met with Professor Stephen Mayson to hear how the review he is conducting on behalf of The Centre for Ethics and Law in University College London is progressing and to respond to some of the ideas being considered. Prof. Mayson is looking at the challenges created by the current regulatory framework and considering alternative ways of regulating legal services. Issues being considered include the rationale for regulation, titles (e.g. barrister/solicitor), who and what should be regulated, and which bodies are best placed to regulate. In Richard Atkins QC's follow-up letter to Prof. Mayson he set out the Bar's position on several policy issues and emphasised the importance of both the title "barrister" and the reservation of certain activities, including rights of audience and the need for a specialist regulator for the Bar. He also highlighted the professional ethos and high ethical standards of the Bar and its key role in the administration of justice. Prof. Mayson is expected to present his interim report in the Autumn and a final report in January 2020.

2. The Bar Council published a new Remuneration related Ethics and Practice FAQs document on its Ethics and Practice Hub. Drafted by our Head of Legal Practice and Remuneration, Adrian Vincent, and approved by both our Remuneration and Ethics Committees, these new FAQs are designed to help barristers and chambers professionals by providing answers to commonly asked remuneration related questions. 

3. In conjunction with the ICCA, Sutton Trust and Social Mobility Foundation, we ran the 11th annual Bar Placement Week South, during which 49 chambers and organisations from throughout England and Wales hosted 60 sixth-form students for work experience. Bar Placement Week provides students from non-traditional backgrounds with the opportunity to experience life as a barrister. Not only do students develop specific skills relevant to the role of a barrister, but they are also given the chance to develop their professional networks, ensuring that talented students, no matter their circumstances, can pursue a career at the Bar. 

4. In its response to the Ministry of Justice's consultation paper on 'Coronial Investigations of Stillbirths', the Bar Council lent its support to Government plans to give coroners new powers to investigate the deaths of stillborn babies.  In our response, the Bar Council's Law Reform Committee highlighted the fact that "an independent, fair and transparent investigation into how [a] baby [comes] to be stillborn at term is something that most parents will welcome and find beneficial". The changes would extend the role of coroners and apply to full-term stillbirths occurring from 37 weeks of pregnancy in England and Wales.  The response added: "Inquests into term stillbirths have the potential to benefit parents who wish to understand what happened, and why. Further, since the trust will probably instruct lawyers to advise and represent them at inquest, the inquest process may prompt an early apology." This support for new powers for coroners was reported by the Press Association and the Yorkshire Post. 

5. On Friday 7 and Saturday 6 July 2019, the Wales and Chester Circuit welcomed members of the Bar Council to Cardiff and, in doing so, made history by becoming the first Circuit outside of London to host a meeting of the Bar Council. During the meeting those in attendance were addressed by, amongst others, former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, and Director of Public Prosecutions, Max Hill QC. It is important to the Bar Council that it be relevant to, and representative of, all at the Bar, including those barristers on Circuit. As such, it is intended that the Bar Council meeting outside London will become an annual event.

Many of these activities would not have been possible without the funds we've received through the voluntary Bar Representation Fee. To pay your Bar Representation Fee log on to MyBar, email MemberServices@BarCouncil.org.uk or call 020 7611 1329.

June was an award-winning month for the Bar Council. We collected four awards at the MemCom Membership Excellence Awards for communications and campaigning, including an Outstanding Achiever Award for our Head of Equality & Diversity, CSR, Sam Mercer. Over and above these successes, here's a more detailed glimpse at some of the work we have undertaken in June 2019. 

1. The Bar Council's response to HM Treasury's consultation paper on 'Transposition of the Fifth Money Laundering Directive' was publicised by Legal Futures. In our response, we accused the Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision ('OPBAS') of a lack of communication after it published its first-year assessment of regulators' performance without warning. Furthermore, we opined that OPBAS needs to show the same level of transparency that it demands of the Bar Council and specifically called for greater clarity on its business plan and related performance, its measures of supervision and the allocation of its resources.

2. We used a visit  to the International Criminal Court ('ICC') in The Hague as an opportunity to discuss the establishment of an exchange scheme between young lawyers at the ICC and young barristers in practice in England and Wales. The purpose of the scheme will be to promote better knowledge and understanding of the ICC amongst junior practitioners (including pupil barristers), and to provide them with the opportunity to explore practice opportunities in international criminal law during their visit. The proposal was warmly received by most ICC representatives, including the President and the Deputy Prosecutor.

3. The Bar Council's Disability Panel published its Chambers Accessibility Audit Tool, which focuses on common access issues faced by aspiring barristers, chambers professionals, pupil barristers, members of the Bar and their clients when accessing chambers. By using the Tool to complete a self-audit, chambers will be able to provide more helpful responses to enquiries from prospective building users and publish more effective access information on their respective websites and in recruitment literature.

4. The Bar Council provided briefings  to selected Peers for the Second Reading, Committee and Report Stages of the Courts and Tribunals (Online Procedure) Bill, raising concerns about aspects of the Bill concerning the relationship between the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Chief Justice in relation to the Online Procedure Rule Committee as well as access to justice for those lacking digital skills.

5. The Young Bar Committee's annual Workshop took place on Saturday 15 June 2019 and was held in partnership with Charles Russell Speechlys LLP, who provided the Bar Council with a venue. Around 80 delegates, including 33 junior lawyers from our International Committee's 29th China Training Scheme, heard from speakers on how to work better with their clerks, handle problems in court and trials, and how to build personal and professional resilience and wellbeing.

Many of these activities would not have been possible without the funds we've received through the voluntary Bar Representation Fee. To pay your Bar Representation Fee log on to MyBar, email MemberServices@BarCouncil.org.uk or call 020 7611 1329.

May has been a busy month at the Bar Council. As part of our ongoing commitment to improving access to the Bar, we announced new application deadlines for our annual Bar Placement Week, Law Reform Essay and Bar Mock Trial competitions. We also kick-started #LegalPride2019 by joining Birmingham Pride on Saturday 25 May 2019, and recognised Mental Health Awareness Week with a new Wellbeing at the Bar blog post from Josephine Davies and through the publication of a sample 'Wellbeing Survey for Chambers'. Over and above these activities, here's a more detailed glimpse at some of the work we have undertaken in May 2019. 

1. In conjunction with HM Courts and Tribunals Service, the Bar Council announced the extension of its secure 'professional-user access scheme' ID app to a further five courts in Manchester, York, Reading, Guildford and Cardiff.  We were delighted with the success of the pilot and expect to achieve nationwide roll-out in 2020. Identifying that a lot of hard work and investment has gone into the development of the scheme, Richard Atkins QC stated that "it will be of immense benefit to members of the Bar who will hopefully now gain quicker access to the courts and tribunals in which they work and perform a vital public duty".

2. The Bar Council's Law Reform Committee lent its support to the Simplification of the Immigration Rules in its responseto a recent Law Commission consultation but urged a cautious approach on the related issue of whether the Rules should permit decision makers wider discretion.  In reaction to the Bar Council's response, which described the current rules as "impenetrable", the Times Online reported that "Britain could face another Windrush scandal unless immigration rules are urgently reformed, the Bar Council of England and Wales has warned the Law Commission. The laws are badly drafted and confusing, barristers told the body that advises the government on legal reforms. They said that overly complicated rules were a factor in the Windrush case that increased the risk of people with the right to remain in Britain being incorrectly detained or removed."

3. On 9 May 2019, together with the Family Law Bar Association, we met with the Legal Aid Agency to discuss the delays to barristers receiving their legal aid fees under the family Very High Cost Case (VHCC) Scheme. On 21 May 2019 the LAA published an improvement to the scheme whereby if the costs of the VHCC case are below £32,500 a case plan is not required, and the barrister should therefore receive their payment more quickly. We are continuing to engage with the LAA and are expecting that in the next few weeks they will announce a further increase to the limits for two counsel cases, which will streamline the payment system for those cases also.

4. Chair of the Bar, Richard Atkins QC, backed the FDA Trade Union's Manifesto for Justice, stating that "the failure to increase rates of pay for publicly-funded lawyers, both prosecution and defence, is nothing short of a scandal.  In the wake of a row over how the police and the CPS handle rape and sexual assault complaints, the release of the Manifesto was widely reported by national media, including The Guardian, The Times and the Law Society Gazette. The Manifesto calls for improved resources for the CPS, a ban on further cuts to legal aid and "competitive" pay to recruit and retain prosecutors.

5. We received just under 150 responses to our short 'Secondment Opportunities at the Bar' survey, which we are undertaking in a bid to better understand the role of secondments within the profession and work out how the Bar Council might be able to improve its support of them.

Many of these activities would not have been possible without the funds we've received through the voluntary Bar Representation Fee. To pay your Bar Representation Fee log on to MyBar, email MemberServices@BarCouncil.org.uk or call 020 7611 1329.

Despite the long bank holiday weekend and the temptation to do little else than bask in the unexpected heatwave, it's been another successful month at the Bar Council. In April, we invited members of the Young Bar to apply to our tenth annual International Grant Programme and continued to call for a 28-day limit for immigration detention alongside groups like Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group and Refugee Tales. Over and above these activities, here's a more detailed glimpse at some of the work we have undertaken in April 2019. 

1. The Bar Council's response to the Department for the Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy's consultation paper on 'Pregnancy and Maternity Discrimination: Extending Redundancy Protection for Women and New Mothers' was publicised by the New Law Journal and the Working Mums online magazine. In our response, we suggested that redundancy protection for pregnant women and new parents in the period after returning work should be extended to 12 months. Furthermore, we opined that pregnant women and new mothers would benefit from more easily accessible information in relation to their employment rights.

2. We received further media attention when the Pre-Application Judicial Education ('PAJE') programme was launched on Wednesday 24 April. The PAJE programme is delivered by the Judicial Diversity Forum and the Bar Council has been a key player in developing the original concept and bringing it to fruition. The programme - effectively a judgecraft course - has been designed to help lawyers develop their understanding of the role and skills required of a judge, before they apply. PAJE also prioritises participants from underrepresented groups (workshops launch in the Autumn) and is therefore a positive step towards a more diverse judiciary; reflective of the society it serves. For more information click here.

3. On Wednesday 17 April, we held our inaugural Chambers' Ambassador Scheme event, which was attended (both in person and virtually) by representatives from sets across England and Wales. We discussed much of what the Bar Council has to offer, including our Annual Chambers Management Package, the immigration support that we offer to non-EEA lawyers when making mini pupillage and pupillage applications, and how our business development missions and exchange programmes can help members of the Bar build an international practice.

4. We used the Commonwealth Law Conference in Zambia as an opportunity to improve the Bar of England and Wales' international presence. Our latest mission received a warm welcome, providing attendees (around 600 lawyers, including our own Lord Chief Justice) with the chance to meet key delegates from the continent and further afield. We held two well-attended networking receptions and discussed our strategic plans with the Bar Council of Malaysia, the President of the Rwanda Bar Association and the President of the Southern Africa Development Community Lawyers Association. Over the coming years we will be working with these stakeholders to raise the profile of our own Bar in Africa, explore ways to overcome any pre-existing restrictions to barristers' practice and collaborate with African lawyers in the field of international arbitration, as well as strengthen professional standards within some of South Africa whilst promoting the rule of law. Whilst in Zambia, the presence of the English and Welsh Bar was applauded by another Commonwealth member who remarked over the pro-activity of the Bar Council in contrast to its peers.

5. In collaboration with Young Citizens, we launched a new public legal education resource to help schools facilitate discussions around government systems and the rule of law using the case of Shamima Begum as an example. The resource was downloaded over 120 times within the first two days of its launch and will help students to explore questions such as what it means to be a British citizen, what it means (both from a legal and ethical standpoint) to have one's citizenship revoked, and what the roles of the legal system, courts and politicians are in the decision-making process. 

Many of these activities would not have been possible without the funds we've received through the voluntary Bar Representation Fee. To pay your Bar Representation Fee log on to MyBar, email MemberServices@BarCouncil.org.uk or call 020 7611 1329.

March has been a busy month at the Bar Council. We recognised World Sleep Day with a new Wellbeing at the Bar blog post from Rachel Crasnow QC, updated our Brexit Working Group's 'Preparing for a no-deal Brexit' guidance, celebrated International Women's Day with our #Next100Years #BalanceTheBar campaign, announced four new Wellbeing at the Bar Certificates of Recognition, and welcomed experts from the UK and Poland to our English-Polish Law day. Over and above these activities, here's a more detailed glimpse at some of the work we have undertaken in March 2019.

1. Our Chair, Richard Atkins QC, visited the North Eastern and Midland Circuits. These visits represented a valuable opportunity for us to hear first-hand of the experiences of barristers outside of London. Whilst meeting members of the profession and the judiciary, Richard discussed important issues such as the government's review of LASPO, retention of women and juniors, fees in crime and family, and working hours.

2. Richard also travelled to Edinburgh to support the Bar Council-backed Mock Trials National Final, which is one of the many initiatives we participate in to ensure wider access to the Bar, particularly to those from under-represented groups and lower socio-economic backgrounds.

3. We won the Lexis Nexis Legal PR/Media Comms Award for our #IAmTheBar campaign, which plays an important role in showcasing social mobility at the Bar and challenging the assumptions that inhibit the progression of those from non-traditional backgrounds both into, and within, the profession.

4. The Bar Council and the Bar Human Rights Committee continued to promote fair access to justice and protect the rule of the law when we sent a letter to Jeremy Hunt, urging his public condemnation of the sentence passed down to human rights lawyer, Nasrin Sotoudeh, in Iran.

5. Finally, with the assistance of barristers from Doughty Street Chambers, we made numerous suggestions in our response to the Ministry of Justice's 'Revising the Mental Capacity Act 2005 Code of Practice' consultation paper, including the introduction of a chapter on Human Rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Many of these activities would not have been possible without the funds we've received through the voluntary Bar Representation Fee. To pay your Bar Representation Fee log on to MyBar, email MemberServices@BarCouncil.org.uk or call 020 7611 1329.