The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today published its latest Independent Decision-making Body Annual Report for the year ending 31 March 2022. This is the third Annual Report of the Independent Decision-making Body (IDB) and the first in which a direct comparison with a full previous year of data is possible.
The IDB was established in October 2019 as part of the BSB’s modernisation of its regulatory decision-making, replacing the Professional Conduct Committee and the Authorisations Review Panel. It is responsible for making decisions on behalf of the BSB where independent input is required. The remit of the IDB includes enforcement decisions in relation to breaches of the BSB Handbook and considering applications to review decisions taken on authorisations such as the issue, amendment or revocation of a practising certificate or applications for waivers in relation to compliance with the BSB Handbook.
Key facts from the 2021-2022 report include:
- In 2021-22, 68 enforcement cases and 22 authorisation cases were considered by the IDB. In the previous year, these figures were 73 and 32 respectively;
- of the enforcement cases, 29 were referred to disciplinary action, seven had administrative sanctions imposed, and 27 saw allegations dismissed: In the previous year, these figures were 37, ten and 22 respectively;
- of the authorisations cases, ten culminated in previous decisions being upheld and eight resulted in decisions of the BSB Executive being overturned; In the previous year, these figures were 27 and five respectively;
- seven (versus ten in the previous year) of the authorisations’ cases related to admission to the Bar as qualified foreign lawyers and four related to reductions in the duration of pupillage, the same number as the previous year. The rest concerned a wide range of authorisation decisions including those relating to waivers and exemptions;
- In this reporting period no appeals were lodged against authorisations IDB decisions nor against administrative sanctions. In the previous year three authorisations’ decisions were appealed.
Commenting on the report, BSB Director General, Mark Neale, said:
“We are pleased to publish the third annual report of the Independent Decision-making Body. The IDB provides an essential check and balance on the consideration of reports about potential breaches of the BSB Handbook by barristers after they have been assessed and investigated by our executive team. We are very grateful to everyone who serves on the IDB for this and the equally important work they undertake in reviewing authorisations’ decisions.”
Chair of the IDB, Iain Christie, said:
“I should like to offer my thanks to all the members of the IDB and the Executive who have worked together to ensure the continued successful operation of the IDB over this reporting period in sometimes challenging circumstances.”
You can read the IDB Report 2021-2022 on the BSB website. The Bar Standards Board has also today published its Regulatory Decisions Report 2021-22, which provides an overview of decisions taken by the BSB in relation to its regulatory operations, and legal and enforcement work in the year to 31 March 2022. You can read about that report here.
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Notes to editors
About the Bar Standards Board
Our mission is to regulate barristers and specialised legal services businesses in England and Wales in the public interest. For more information about what we do visit: http://bit.ly/1gwui8t
About the IDB
The Independent Decision-making Body (IDB) makes decisions about cases passed to the Investigations and Enforcement Department for investigation that may require disciplinary action and determines appeals against authorisation decisions.
About the Regulatory Decision-Making Report
The Regulatory Decision-Making Report provides an overview of decisions taken by the BSB in relation to its regulatory operations, and legal and enforcement work in the year to 31 March 2022.
Reforms to the BSB’s approach to regulatory decision-making in October 2019 saw the introduction of new Key Performance Indicators for the handling of reports to reflect the new regulatory operations systems.
Contact: For all media enquiries call: 07432 713 328 or email [email protected].
