News and press releases

29 February 2016 - What is it the Bar Council does? Here's a glimpse of just some of the work we have done in February 2016

29 February 2016 - What is it the Bar Council does? Here's a glimpse of just some of the work we have done in January 2016

26 February 2016 - US authorities could access legally privileged information held by barristers in England and Wales, the Bar Council has warned its members. Guidance issued to all barristers in England and Wales, explains that the Patriot Act and other surveillance laws could allow US authorities to access confidential, legally privileged data held in the cloud and on external back up services which use computers owned by US corporations.

25 February 2016 - The Bar Council has responded to today's proposals from the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary that would prohibit the remuneration of McKenzie Friends. Chairman of the Bar, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC said:"McKenzie friends are unregulated, uninsured and mostly unqualified, and the Bar Council agrees that they should not be allowed to charge people for legal services.

22 February 2016 - For the first time ever, the Bar Council’s award winning outreach programme, the Bar Placement Week, has opened in Liverpool. Bar Placement Week is a unique programme designed to give talented sixth-form students from under-represented backgrounds an insight into life as a barrister.

19 February 2016 - Every year, throughout February and March, Bar Council members have to take part in the Authorisation to Practice process, which involves renewing your practising certificate, updating your professional information and paying your Practising Certificate Fee and Bar Representation Fee.

18 February 2016 - The Court of Appeal has today upheld a challenge on access to legal aid for victims of domestic violence. Responding to today’s ruling, Chairman of the Bar, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC said: “There is no doubt that victims of domestic violence should have access to legal aid, yet stringent tests introduced by the last Government restricted that access, imposing unfair tests on victims of domestic violence.”

11 February 2016 - Government plans to boost surveillance powers have been knocked back by an all-party joint committee of MPs and Peers today over fears that they would allow too much state surveillance of conversations between clients and their lawyers. The joint committee said that provisions to prevent the state from intercepting legally privileged communications should be included on the face of the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill, rather than, as the Home Office had suggested, in codes of practice which do not have the same legal force.