Recruitment of senior treasury counsel will, for the first time, be carried out by open competition, with all qualified advocates - barristers and solicitor-advocates, including QCs - able to apply.

The move follows a review of the system for the appointment of treasury counsel commissioned by the Attorney-General, Lord Goldsmith, who is responsible for the appointment of its members, who prosecute the most serious criminal offences.


Appointment to the rank of junior treasury counsel is already by open competition, but the senior positions are restricted to those who have done the job of junior counsel.


The review team, which included criminal barrister Richard Ferguson QC and Mohammed Aziz, commissioner at the Commission for Racial Equality, also recommended formal monitoring of counsel and the collection of data on ethnicity and gender.


There are currently 16 treasury counsel; eight junior and eight senior. Of those, seven come from two chambers in the Temple, two from an ethnic minority group, two are female and one is disabled.


Retired circuit judge Gerald Butler QC described the treasury counsel as a 'cosy little club' in a 2000 report.


Dru Sharpling, Chief Crown Prosecutor for London, who was on the review panel, said: 'We are anxious to ensure fair and open competition, to encourage the widest pool of applicants from around the country and promote diversity and equality.'