*/
Barristers will no longer be required to do a mandatory 12 hours’ continuing professional development (CPD) a year, after new rules came into effect.
The Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) CPD accreditation scheme was scrapped on 31 December and the new regime introduced on 1 January 2017.
Barristers will now be required to follow four stages to comply. They will have to prepare a written CPD plan, setting out their objectives and review it during the year, keep a written record of their CPD activities, reflect on their planned and completed CPD activities and report annually to the BSB that they have completed it.
The CPD arrangements for those in their first three years of practice, who are on the New Practitioners Programme, have not changed. Guidance and a template to help barristers to set their objectives, structure their CPD and demonstrate how to record their reflections, are on the BSB website.
In a letter sent to all barristers, the BSB’s Director General, Dr Vanessa Davies, said: ‘Our focus will not be on disciplinary action, but on helping you to comply.
‘We will monitor and assess this via spot-checking barristers’ CPD records but we will reserve referral to our Professional Conduct Department for persistent non-compliance or non-cooperation.’
Designed in consultation with barristers, Davies said the new scheme is designed to be ‘as straightforward as possible’ and give barristers the control and flexibility to focus on the learning and development needed in order to practise.
Barristers will no longer be required to do a mandatory 12 hours’ continuing professional development (CPD) a year, after new rules came into effect.
The Bar Standards Board’s (BSB) CPD accreditation scheme was scrapped on 31 December and the new regime introduced on 1 January 2017.
Barristers will now be required to follow four stages to comply. They will have to prepare a written CPD plan, setting out their objectives and review it during the year, keep a written record of their CPD activities, reflect on their planned and completed CPD activities and report annually to the BSB that they have completed it.
The CPD arrangements for those in their first three years of practice, who are on the New Practitioners Programme, have not changed. Guidance and a template to help barristers to set their objectives, structure their CPD and demonstrate how to record their reflections, are on the BSB website.
In a letter sent to all barristers, the BSB’s Director General, Dr Vanessa Davies, said: ‘Our focus will not be on disciplinary action, but on helping you to comply.
‘We will monitor and assess this via spot-checking barristers’ CPD records but we will reserve referral to our Professional Conduct Department for persistent non-compliance or non-cooperation.’
Designed in consultation with barristers, Davies said the new scheme is designed to be ‘as straightforward as possible’ and give barristers the control and flexibility to focus on the learning and development needed in order to practise.
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
Harmony Christian Ministries is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
By David Green
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
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
The Chief Legal Officer to the Metropolitan Police, barrister Brett Welch, tells Anthony Inglese CB about his mission and the work to turn the Met around
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
