Submit your views

The Chair of the review invites submissions from all interested parties.

All submissions sent by email will be published alongside the report on the Bar Council’s website. You may request that your submission is:

  • published anonymously (the content will be published but not the name of the submitting party), and/or
  • published with certain redactions, or
  • kept confidential (the submission will only be seen by the review team and not published)

There are three ways to submit your views:

  1. Email [email protected] answering as many of the questions below as you wish. Please indicate if you require your response to be published anonymously/with redactions or treated as confidential.
  2. Complete the Word form and submit to [email protected]
  3. Via the review channel in Talk to Spot. These submissions will be treated confidentially and will not be published or shared beyond the review team. Evidence submitted via Talk to Spot will be received, but not seen, by the Bar Council equalities team and sent directly to the review team.

Review questions

1. Reasons for bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment

a. In your view, why is bullying, harassment and sexual harassment a persistent problem at the Bar?

b. Are there particular dynamics or working practices at the Bar which allow for bullying, harassment and sexual harassment to persist?

c. Are the relevant standards of behaviour relating to bullying, harassment and sexual harassment known, clear, accessible, and sufficiently robust? 

d. Are the relevant standards of behaviour relating to bullying, harassment and sexual harassment sufficiently mainstreamed within barristers’ professional obligations? Should they, for example, be included within the Core Duties set out in the BSB Code of Conduct?

2. Impact of bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment

a. What is the impact of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment on those who are subject to such misconduct?

b. Is there a wider impact upon barristers’ staff, clients (professional and law), or the justice system more broadly?

3. Reporting mechanisms, resources, and sanctions

a. What are the barriers to reporting incidents of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment?

b. What mechanisms could be put in place to mitigate any repercussions against a complainant who has reported bullying, harassment or sexual harassment?

c. The Bar Standards Board (BSB) rules place a duty on barristers to report to the BSB in circumstances where there are reasonable grounds to believe there has been serious misconduct (with an exception set out in guidance for victims).  Is this duty to report known, understood and implemented in practice?

d. Is there sufficient support in place both for complainants and persons accused of bullying, harassment, or sexual harassment? Do the existing mechanisms appropriately balance the need for confidentiality and transparency?

e. Should there be interim measures which permit a person accused of bullying, harassment, or sexual harassment to be subject to a precautionary exclusion from Chambers, their employer, or from practice during the adjudication of a complaint?

f. Are investigations into complaints (by the BSB, Chambers or any other relevant body) concerning bullying, harassment or sexual harassment sufficiently independent, prompt, robust, and fair?

g. Following an upheld complaint of bullying, harassment or sexual harassment, are the sanctions imposed appropriate and fair? Is enforcement action sufficiently robust to act as a deterrent?

4. Potential reforms to tackle bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment

a. Are there any preventative steps which can be taken to tackle bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment? In particular, what could be done in the court room, in Chambers, and at the Bar more widely, to assist in preventing such misconduct?

b. What improvements could be made to existing reporting mechanisms and support services?

c. In what ways could the judiciary, clerks, chambers professionals, and others work together with the Bar to bring about change?

d. Are there any other comparable professions which can offer examples of best practice in tackling bullying, harassment, and sexual harassment?

5. Is there are anything else that you would like to share with the review?

Send your responses to [email protected] answering as many of the questions as you wish.