*/
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has agreed to allow new routes for would-be barristers to qualify, including the two-stage course proposed by the Bar Council and the Council of the Inns of Court (COIC).
The Bar Council/COIC model to split the training, currently undertaken through the Bar Professional Training Course which costs up to £20,000, would see an initial knowledge element, that must be passed before candidates progress to the skills-based part of the course at law school.
The BSB said the proposal was supported by the ‘great majority’ of respondents to the consultation on the Future of Training for the Bar, launched last year, which overall received more than 1,100 respondents.
More than 500 barristers, including the former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolfe, signed an open letter to the BSB supporting the proposal and raising concern about other options put forward by the regulator.
The BSB has published criteria for the new courses and said it will publish and consult on an ‘authorisation framework’, which it expected it to be in place from the 2018/19 academic year.
The timing of new courses being approved, it said, will depend on providers coming forward with plans.
BSB Chair, Sir Andrew Burns said: ‘Our role as the regulator is not to design the courses themselves, but to set a robust framework for authorising course providers.’
He said: ‘We look forward to more flexible, accessible and affordable training courses in future which will maintain the high intellectual and professional standards demanded at the Bar.’
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has agreed to allow new routes for would-be barristers to qualify, including the two-stage course proposed by the Bar Council and the Council of the Inns of Court (COIC).
The Bar Council/COIC model to split the training, currently undertaken through the Bar Professional Training Course which costs up to £20,000, would see an initial knowledge element, that must be passed before candidates progress to the skills-based part of the course at law school.
The BSB said the proposal was supported by the ‘great majority’ of respondents to the consultation on the Future of Training for the Bar, launched last year, which overall received more than 1,100 respondents.
More than 500 barristers, including the former Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolfe, signed an open letter to the BSB supporting the proposal and raising concern about other options put forward by the regulator.
The BSB has published criteria for the new courses and said it will publish and consult on an ‘authorisation framework’, which it expected it to be in place from the 2018/19 academic year.
The timing of new courses being approved, it said, will depend on providers coming forward with plans.
BSB Chair, Sir Andrew Burns said: ‘Our role as the regulator is not to design the courses themselves, but to set a robust framework for authorising course providers.’
He said: ‘We look forward to more flexible, accessible and affordable training courses in future which will maintain the high intellectual and professional standards demanded at the Bar.’
Sam Townend KC explains the Bar Council’s efforts towards ensuring a bright future for the profession
Giovanni D’Avola explores the issue of over-citation of unreported cases and the ‘added value’ elements of a law report
Louise Crush explores the key points and opportunities for tax efficiency
Westgate Wealth Management Ltd is a Partner Practice of FTSE 100 company St. James’s Place – one of the top UK Wealth Management firms. We offer a holistic service of distinct quality, integrity, and excellence with the aim to build a professional and valuable relationship with our clients, helping to provide them with security now, prosperity in the future and the highest standard of service in all of our dealings.
Is now the time to review your financial position, having reached a career milestone? asks Louise Crush
If you were to host a dinner party with 10 guests, and you asked them to explain what financial planning is and how it differs to financial advice, you’d receive 10 different answers. The variety of answers highlights the ongoing need to clarify and promote the value of financial planning.
Most of us like to think we would risk our career in order to meet our ethical obligations, so why have so many lawyers failed to hold the line? asks Flora Page
If your current practice environment is bringing you down, seek a new one. However daunting the change, it will be worth it, says Anon Barrister
Creating advocacy opportunities for juniors is now the expectation but not always easy to put into effect. Tom Mitcheson KC distils developing best practice from the Patents Court initiative already bearing fruit
National courts are now running the bulk of the world’s war crimes cases and corporate prosecutions are part of this growing trend, reports Chris Stephen
Let’s hear it for the assessors, says Dame Anne Rafferty of the KC Selection Panel. And to make silk assessors’ lives a little easier when applicants come calling in May, Dame Anne fields some commonly asked questions
