The Bar Council has agreed a framework with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) designed to safeguard the junior bar against the CPS's greater use of its own higher court advocates.

Under the guidelines, external barristers will be instructed at an earlier stage and follow the case through to trial, rather than most interlocutory proceedings being given to in-house advocates. Barristers will return plea case management hearing briefs in exceptional circumstances.


Tom Little, chairman of the young barristers committee, said that while he understood why the CPS wanted to do more of its own advocacy, it was a 'very real concern' that junior barristers should still be able to prosecute cases. He added: 'The framework will ensure that both the CPS higher court advocates and the junior bar can undertake the amount of work that they need to.'


A CPS spokeswoman said the framework reflected the parties' 'inter-reliance'.