Regulation
The Bar Standards Board is responsible for maintaining the Code of Conduct of the Bar of England and Wales, which provides the rules which all barrister’s must obey.
The general purpose of the Code is to provide the requirements for practice as a barrister and the rules and standards of conduct applicable to barristers which are appropriate in the interests of justice.
The Board also issues guidance on the rules governing qualification and practice and conduct by barristers. Guidance usually relates to the application of particular provisions of the Code of Conduct of the Bar of England and Wales.
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The Bar Handbook
The provision of legal services is evolving whether it be in relation to legal aid, future business models for chambers, opening up access to the Bar, the formation of the Bar Standards Board (an independent, ring-fenced regulator operating in the public interest) or the reforms being made by the Legal Services Act 2007. With it, the Bar Council’s role as the governing body of the profession has continued to evolve. There has therefore never been a better time to gather together all the current advice and good practice material produced by the Bar Council, ordered and contextualised by the authors, with a structure following the chronology of a career at the Bar.
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The Bar Handbook is a practical handbook bringing together, for the first time, details and guidance relating to a barrister’s professional obligations, parameters of work, permitted charging arrangements, ability to get paid, getting redress when not paid, tax and VAT liabilities, insurance, practice planning and good practice advice, and relevant statutory and regulatory references, for all barristers be they self-employed or sole practitioners, employed, publicly or privately funded. Read more... |
Complaints and Hearings
The BSB’s complaints and disciplinary system exists to establish systems to identify areas of risk to consumers; to take action to remedy poor performance by barristers (or members of the profession); and, where things go wrong, to provide an efficient and fair complaints and disciplinary system.
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Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
The Bar Standards Board is committed to ensuring that the profession continues to offer legal services of the very highest quality, therefore all practising barristers are required to complete continuing professional development (CPD). Whilst attending courses alone will not guarantee that appropriate standards are maintained, the Bar Standards Board considers that mandatory compliance with a planned programme of CPD is essential if barristers are to maintain and improve their skills.
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