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The overall settlement for the justice system is beneficial, there is some recognition by government that justice is a key public service and the average real terms increase in total funding in the Spending Review was 3.1%. This will help increase court capacity, tackle the court backlogs and implement recommendations from the Independent Review of Criminal Courts.
The Bar Council has been calling for more resources for some time, so this is a move in the right direction. We still need further support for the criminal, civil and family Bar, legal aid and early legal advice.
Last month we had our first event in Parliament with the Law Society since the general election. The theme was justice as a key public service. This was an opportunity for the Bar and solicitors to meet with new and returning MPs and Peers. The Attorney General and the Shadow Attorney General both spoke, and the event was sponsored by the Chair of the Justice Select Committee.
There was recognition of the important role that legal professionals have in our democracy and in upholding rule of law. Other issues touched upon included public spending and economic growth, the contribution of legal services to the economy and access to justice.
I have had several meetings with the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), including with its Chief Executive, to discuss the cyber incident and its impact on the Bar. I pressed for and received a contingency plan for paying barristers while waiting for the systems to be restored. I wrote to HMRC’s Chief Executive to bring the LAA cyber-attack to their attention and to highlight the impact the incident is having on barristers whose primary income is from legal aid work and the particular concerns regarding cash-flow difficulties with VAT and tax payment deadlines.
We have asked for information about the LAA cyber incident to be shared with HMRC call handlers and invited HMRC to consider additional help and flexibility for barristers, such as an additional period for payments. The response I have had from HMRC highlights its ‘Time to Pay’ arrangements and confirms that HMRC debt management staff have been advised of the incident.
In June, a High Court judgment censured lawyers for citing non-existent case law. Dame Victoria Sharp called upon the Bar Council and the Law Society to ‘address the misuse of artificial intelligence’. We have already issued guidance on the use of generative AI, which is quoted in the judgment, and a new joint working group with the Bar Standards Board (BSB) is being established to identify how best we can further support the Bar in ensuring that AI is used carefully and appropriately.
The BSB has recently launched a consultation on first-tier complaints handling and the consultation focuses on the ways, means and timing of the submission by the Bar of complaints information to the BSB. Our Chambers Management Panel and Regulation Panel are both working on a response and we want to encourage colleagues to submit their own response by the deadline on Wednesday 6 August.
We’ve submitted a response to the Legal Services Board consultation on upholding professional ethics. The consultation identified several types of poor ethical conduct, including strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and problems of independence.
We have argued in our submission that the ethical issues identified are not commonplace at the Bar, or necessarily appropriate for additional regulatory control.
Our Law Reform Committee and Ethics Committee have taken the lead in challenging the premise that NDAs were being misused by our profession. Since July 2023 our general approach has been to suggest that any misuse is best addressed by legislation.
In June 2025 the Ministry of Justice published new guidance on changes that will be happening to the law governing NDAs and we are pleased there has been an attempt to tackle the issue but not via further regulation of the profession.
Barbara Mills KC is the 2025 Chair of the Bar. She is a specialist family practitioner at 4PB and former Co-Chair of the Bar Council’s Race Working Group.
The overall settlement for the justice system is beneficial, there is some recognition by government that justice is a key public service and the average real terms increase in total funding in the Spending Review was 3.1%. This will help increase court capacity, tackle the court backlogs and implement recommendations from the Independent Review of Criminal Courts.
The Bar Council has been calling for more resources for some time, so this is a move in the right direction. We still need further support for the criminal, civil and family Bar, legal aid and early legal advice.
Last month we had our first event in Parliament with the Law Society since the general election. The theme was justice as a key public service. This was an opportunity for the Bar and solicitors to meet with new and returning MPs and Peers. The Attorney General and the Shadow Attorney General both spoke, and the event was sponsored by the Chair of the Justice Select Committee.
There was recognition of the important role that legal professionals have in our democracy and in upholding rule of law. Other issues touched upon included public spending and economic growth, the contribution of legal services to the economy and access to justice.
I have had several meetings with the Legal Aid Agency (LAA), including with its Chief Executive, to discuss the cyber incident and its impact on the Bar. I pressed for and received a contingency plan for paying barristers while waiting for the systems to be restored. I wrote to HMRC’s Chief Executive to bring the LAA cyber-attack to their attention and to highlight the impact the incident is having on barristers whose primary income is from legal aid work and the particular concerns regarding cash-flow difficulties with VAT and tax payment deadlines.
We have asked for information about the LAA cyber incident to be shared with HMRC call handlers and invited HMRC to consider additional help and flexibility for barristers, such as an additional period for payments. The response I have had from HMRC highlights its ‘Time to Pay’ arrangements and confirms that HMRC debt management staff have been advised of the incident.
In June, a High Court judgment censured lawyers for citing non-existent case law. Dame Victoria Sharp called upon the Bar Council and the Law Society to ‘address the misuse of artificial intelligence’. We have already issued guidance on the use of generative AI, which is quoted in the judgment, and a new joint working group with the Bar Standards Board (BSB) is being established to identify how best we can further support the Bar in ensuring that AI is used carefully and appropriately.
The BSB has recently launched a consultation on first-tier complaints handling and the consultation focuses on the ways, means and timing of the submission by the Bar of complaints information to the BSB. Our Chambers Management Panel and Regulation Panel are both working on a response and we want to encourage colleagues to submit their own response by the deadline on Wednesday 6 August.
We’ve submitted a response to the Legal Services Board consultation on upholding professional ethics. The consultation identified several types of poor ethical conduct, including strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs), the misuse of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) and problems of independence.
We have argued in our submission that the ethical issues identified are not commonplace at the Bar, or necessarily appropriate for additional regulatory control.
Our Law Reform Committee and Ethics Committee have taken the lead in challenging the premise that NDAs were being misused by our profession. Since July 2023 our general approach has been to suggest that any misuse is best addressed by legislation.
In June 2025 the Ministry of Justice published new guidance on changes that will be happening to the law governing NDAs and we are pleased there has been an attempt to tackle the issue but not via further regulation of the profession.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, discusses what family law professionals need to know about hallucinogens, from the main hallucinogenic drugs encountered in family proceedings, to their effects and the testing options available
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Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Developing a tech start-up demands a different definition of excellence to the Bar, says Saara Idelbi. The co-creator of Advocatr on entrepreneurship, AI advocacy training, and matching the thrill of a killer cross-examination
At the start of her term, Chair of the Bar 2026 Kirsty Brimelow KC set out a series of priorities for the year ahead. One of those priorities was children in the justice system
As the world becomes more digital, Barbara Vinagre Mota examines international research into the mental health consequences of judges’ exposure to graphic and immersive evidence, highlighting the importance of support systems
Reviewed by Daniel Barnett
James McNeill Whistler at Tate Britain until 27 September Rothko in Florence at Palazzo Strozzi until 23 August Reviewed by Stephen Cragg KC
