The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has launched a full-scale review of the bar's code of conduct that is expected to take up to three years to complete.


The board kicked off the review this week by publishing a consultation on which aspects of the code should be amended. It has been launched in response to the changes anticipated as a result of the Legal Services Bill, and to address current restrictions on practice that the Office of Fair Trading has suggested may be anti-competitive, such as the prohibition on barristers forming partnerships.



During the review the BSB will look at seven key aspects of the code, including the quality and entry requirements, the provisions governing acceptance of work, including the cab-rank rule, and disciplinary rules.



The bar's new regulator also published its first annual report, which revealed the cost of regulation had increased from £3 million in 2005 to £3.5 million in 2006.



Meanwhile the BSB issued provisional conclusions on its consultation on deferral of call. It said deferring call until after pupillage would not be an appropriate response to the risk of the public being misled as to whether an individual is fully qualified.



Instead, the BSB proposed an online register of barristers holding a current practicing certificate and the requirement for pupils to be referred to as 'trainee barristers'.



Catherine Baksi