Disciplinary procedure: council to amend process after human rights breach


The Bar Council has made a U-turn over its plans to challenge a High Court judge's ruling that its complaints procedure is in breach of human rights law, it revealed last week.


A spokesman said it was no longer considering an appeal against the decision, and would amend its disciplinary procedures in line with the judgment.



A decision made by the Visitors to the Inns of Court, the appeal panel for barristers' disciplinary proceedings, ruled that the bar's current disciplinary practice did not provide an impartial tribunal as required by the Human Rights Act 1998 (see [2005] Gazette, 24 March, 4).



Under current rules, decisions on whether to prosecute a barrister are made by a professional conduct and complaints committee (PCCC) that includes members who also sit on the disciplinary tribunal that adjudicates over the charges. This led to the perception that adjudicators could be 'judges in their own cause' even though an individual would not sit on a disciplinary panel in a case on which he had attended a PCCC meeting.


Initially the Bar Council had claimed the decision - which has caused embarrassment to the bar - may not be correct. However, a spokesman has since revealed that, as changes will be needed anyway as a result of the Clementi review, the Bar Council will amend its disciplinary practice rather than challenge the judgment.


The Visitors' judgment could lead to hundreds of disciplinary cases being reopened. Constitutional barrister Michael Shrimpton of Michael Shrimpton Chambers in Aylesbury said the judgment meant 'all decisions of disciplinary tribunals, and by extension summary panels, where members of the PCCC are participating are null and void. It is possible that it could affect several hundred cases.'