News and press releases

20 November 2015 - The barristers elected for the Bar Council 2016 casual vacancies, in the category of employed barristers under 7 years’ call, are Diana Deju, Katie Drummond and Shiv Haria-Shah.

17 November 2015 - Criminal court charges create perverse incentives for the innocent to plead guilty, warns Bar Council chairman Alistair MacDonald QC, ahead of today's Westminster Hall debate. He also points out that we still do not know if the Government is on track to raise £265 million it proposed to bring in over the course of this Parliament.

13 November 2015 - Chairman of the Bar Alistair MacDonald QC said:“The Bar Council has always opposed the two-tier scheme and has consistently asked the Ministry of Justice and the Legal Aid Agency to re-consider these plans. We therefore welcome today’s decision to postpone the implementation of the scheme in the light of the legal challenges which have been brought.

5 November 2015 - Alistair MacDonald QC, Chairman of the Bar, comments on the Draft Investigatory Powers Bill

22 October 2015 - The statutory protection of legally privileged communications between lawyers and their clients should be high on the agenda when Parliament debates major new surveillance legislation next month. The Bar Council and The Law Society have called for legal professional privilege to receive statutory protection in the forthcoming Investigatory Powers Bill.

22 October 2015 - Expressions of interest are invited from practising employed Juniors under 7 years’ call who wish to join Bar Council for 2016.

22 October 2015 - The results of the election for the 2016 Bar Council have now been announced.

20 October 2015 - Consumers, the public and businesses can now save money by going directly to a barrister instead of having to go through a solicitor when they need a lawyer, thanks to a new website.