Non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) have been in the spotlight as one of the examples of ethical challenges for lawyers and the issue has been seized upon by the Legal Services Board as evidence that something has to change.
The Bar Council's Law Reform Committee and Ethics Committee have taken a lead on this work; we have challenged the premise that NDAs were being misused by our profession, at least to any material extent, and we have queried the evidence base for this assumption. Our general approach has been to suggest that the misuse of NDAs is best addressed by legislation and not by asking lawyers not use NDAs in contexts where they are lawful.
The work we have carried out over time has included:
In July 2023, we submitted a response to the Legal Services Board’s call for evidence on the misuse of NDAs.
In September 2023, the Bar Council met with the pressure group Can’t Buy My Silence. Chair of the Bar Nick Vineall KC told Legal Futures: “there is an important debate to be had about the circumstances in which NDAs may be lawfully used."
In February 2024, we raised the issue again in our response to the Legal Services Board’s Draft Business Plan for 2024/25.
In March 2024, the Chair of the Bar Sam Townend KC, said in our press release: “The issue of Non-Disclosure Agreements is ripe for legislative change and the Bar Council welcomes the Government’s intention to implement legislative reform."
This month (June 2025), the Ministry of Justice published new guidance on changes that will be happening to the law governing NDAs. We were consulted on this in 2024 by the Ministry of Justice and gave our views on the practical application of the proposed legislation. We are pleased there has been an attempt to tackle the issue via legislation rather than by the regulation of lawyers.
Eleena Misra KC, Chair of the Bar Council's Law Reform Committee, said: " The Bar Council welcomes clarity around what is or is not enforceable in terms of NDAs and any steps to ensure that those who are the victims of crime or reasonably consider themselves to be so, can access the help, support and advice they need without fear of sanction or reprisal.
"Many NDAs were already unenforceable prior to the proposed legislation due to come into effect this autumn, but the Bar Council welcomes any initiatives by the government to further educate the public as to individual's rights, noting that, in many cases, those who are pressurised to sign such agreements do not have the legal advice they need in order to better inform them of their options in such circumstances. That said, the Bar Council also notes that there are legitimate cases in which parties may wish to use an NDA and where it genuinely benefits both parties to do so. The legislation does not operate as, nor should it be seen as a blanket ban on NDAs."
Read the MoJ guidance on the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024: changes to non-disclosure agreements