The Bar Council has today responded to the legal services market study produced by the Competition and Markets Authority.

Chairman of the Bar, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC said: "The Bar Council has always sought to ensure that consumers of legal services, be they individuals, small businesses or others, are supported and protected by high quality regulation. The public interest is well served when such safeguards are in place.

"We therefore welcome the CMA's recent report, to which the Bar Council contributed.

"The Bar Standards Board has operated independently of the Bar Council, the representative body, since 2006. We are not aware of any evidence - and nor has any been presented by the CMA report - that the separation between the two bodies is not working in the way that Parliament intended.

"Should the Ministry of Justice opt to devote time and expenditure on such a review, as recommended by the CMA, the Bar Council will engage constructively."

ENDS

Notes to Editors 

  1. Further information is available from the Bar Council Press Office on 020 7222 2525 and [email protected].

  2. The Bar Council represents barristers in England and Wales. It promotes: 

  • The Bar's high quality specialist advocacy and advisory services

  • Fair access to justice for all

  • The highest standards of ethics, equality and diversity across the profession, and

  • The development of business opportunities for barristers at home and abroad.

The General Council of the Bar is the Approved Regulator of the Bar of England and Wales. It discharges its regulatory functions through the independent Bar Standards Board