The bar regulator has apologised for adding to the trauma of three women who complained about former Criminal Bar Association chief Jo Sidhu KC, who was disbarred earlier this year for sexual misconduct.
Kathryn Stone OBE, chair of the Bar Standards Board, said she watched Thursday night’s Channel 4 News report, in which journalist Cathy Newman spoke to three women who complained to the regulator about Sidhu. Stone said: ‘It deeply saddened me on many levels, and I am so sorry that the Bar Standards Board added to the trauma of the already distressing situation that the witnesses found themselves in.'
Viewers heard that the BSB took two years and three months to consider the complaints before a tribunal decided to disbar Sidhu. The complainants told Newman that processes kept changing day by day, timetables changed, they were asked to give undertakings not to speak to anyone, and they were not kept in the loop about what was happening.
Stone said the process that eventually led to Sidhu getting disbarred ‘clearly added to the traumatic experience for the witnesses interviewed and this is not good enough’.
‘I want to assure everyone that the Bar Standards Board is listening, and we will do better to support those who come forward to make reports and give evidence… Support, protection and a safe environment for individuals and witnesses who make reports has to be at the heart of our process. One of our first actions will be to fast-track specialist victim support services for those who report concerns.’
Stone said securing enforcement action through the tribunal process can be complex and the BSB understood the importance of timeliness to maintain public and professional confidence.
'Gathering evidence and facts to support potential enforcement actions requires meticulous attention to detail. We must also deal fairly and properly with barristers’ various legal challenges and work to the timetable set by the tribunal. It’s important that we are diligent and thorough to ensure that we don’t jeopardise presenting the strongest possible cases to the tribunal,' Stone said.
Sidhu’s lawyer told Channel 4 News he will be appealing the tribunal’s ruling.
