Counsel Magazine

A joint consultation by the Bar Standards Board (BSB), Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) and ILEX Professional Standards on advocacy standards has been issued.

The consultation paper on quality standards for criminal advocates represents a joint commitment between the BSB, SRA and ILEX Professional Standards to develop common standards that can be applied across the respective professions with a view to fostering consistent standards of advocacy throughout the legal profession. The regulators are attempting to develop common standards that can be applied to all advocates in all areas of practice. This will require ensuring that standards and their associated competencies are applicable in a wide range of contexts. This is a significant task which will be undertaken incrementally - starting where there has been greatest interest in the consistency of advocacy competence and performance, namely criminal practice. This first consultation paper therefore seeks views on proposed common standards for criminal advocates.