Coroner’s Court Competences and Toolkit - Evaluation report (2024)
An evaluation was carried out to determine the extent to which the competences for practitioners in the Coroners' Courts and the associated toolkit published in 2021 have met the overarching objectives of the initial project. Evaluation work looked at awareness of these resources at the Bar and among key stakeholders and whether they have contributed to improving standards in the Coroners’ Courts.
Judicial Perceptions of the Quality of Criminal Advocacy (2018)
Published in June 2018 by the BSB and the Solicitors Regulation Authority, this research explores the views of the judiciary on the current quality, provision and regulation of advocacy within the criminal court. The research was carried out by the Institute for Criminal Policy Research of Birkbeck, University of London, and involved in-depth interviews with 50 High Court and circuit judges. The findings suggested that while judges viewed the current quality of advocacy as competent, some felt that standards were declining in some areas, especially in relation to core courtroom skills such as case preparation and dealing with some witnesses.
Youth Proceedings Advocacy Review (2015)
Published in November 2015. Mixed methods research commissioned jointly by the BSB and Cilex Regulation highlights the damaging effects that poor advocacy has on access to justice for young and often very vulnerable offenders, and their perceptions of the system in general. Whilst recognising there were examples of good practice amongst advocates appearing in youth court proceedings, the overriding view of those who participated within the research was that standards of advocacy were not at the level that the public should expect.
