*/
Ethics Committee
This workshop consisted of excellent discussions between panel and delegates of issues which barristers of all ages might well encounter. The panel made clear the committee’s remit. It offers ethical but not legal advice; the task of the confidential advice hotline is to take the enquiring barrister through the core values in the Handbook. However, it is instructed counsel who has to make the judgment call and to bear the responsibility. It is they who hold the brief and know the lay client.
There was advice on how to protect counsel’s position: get the brief endorsed, show you have thought about the issue, and send confirming emails if you have consulted the Bar Council hotline and/or spoken to a senior member of chambers. ‘At base we are not the mere mouthpieces of our clients,’ Fenner pointed out. So it is best to explain counsel’s role to the lay client at the very start.
Delegates were supplied with a list of ethical issues. Resolving them can be balancing exercises and unsurprisingly not everyone agreed on the ‘answer’. One problem dealt with the situation where the Crown has told the court that the defendant has no relevant convictions although defence counsel knows that the defendant is in fact subject to a suspended sentence. It was suggested that one should say to the defendant, ‘the best I can do is to stand up and say I offer no mitigation, but if I’m asked by the judge, I’ve got to tell the truth’.
Other issues concerned disclosure of one’s previous involvement with the litigants on the other side (for example having once represented a company which your client is now suing) and how to deal with the more robust allegations which a client may want you to put to the other side’s witness.
The prime duty remains a barrister’s duty to the court in the administration of justice. As Fenner put it, ‘either you stand up and perform as a barrister or you don’t – not with a nudge or a wink’.
The conference later learned of the launch of the new Ethics and Practice Hub, which will be available on phones and tablets, and which provides guidance on ethical issues, as well as guidance on IT, equality and diversity and other practice issues: barcouncilethics.co.uk.
This workshop consisted of excellent discussions between panel and delegates of issues which barristers of all ages might well encounter. The panel made clear the committee’s remit. It offers ethical but not legal advice; the task of the confidential advice hotline is to take the enquiring barrister through the core values in the Handbook. However, it is instructed counsel who has to make the judgment call and to bear the responsibility. It is they who hold the brief and know the lay client.
There was advice on how to protect counsel’s position: get the brief endorsed, show you have thought about the issue, and send confirming emails if you have consulted the Bar Council hotline and/or spoken to a senior member of chambers. ‘At base we are not the mere mouthpieces of our clients,’ Fenner pointed out. So it is best to explain counsel’s role to the lay client at the very start.
Delegates were supplied with a list of ethical issues. Resolving them can be balancing exercises and unsurprisingly not everyone agreed on the ‘answer’. One problem dealt with the situation where the Crown has told the court that the defendant has no relevant convictions although defence counsel knows that the defendant is in fact subject to a suspended sentence. It was suggested that one should say to the defendant, ‘the best I can do is to stand up and say I offer no mitigation, but if I’m asked by the judge, I’ve got to tell the truth’.
Other issues concerned disclosure of one’s previous involvement with the litigants on the other side (for example having once represented a company which your client is now suing) and how to deal with the more robust allegations which a client may want you to put to the other side’s witness.
The prime duty remains a barrister’s duty to the court in the administration of justice. As Fenner put it, ‘either you stand up and perform as a barrister or you don’t – not with a nudge or a wink’.
The conference later learned of the launch of the new Ethics and Practice Hub, which will be available on phones and tablets, and which provides guidance on ethical issues, as well as guidance on IT, equality and diversity and other practice issues: barcouncilethics.co.uk.
Ethics Committee
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
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
