BSB to publish barristers disciplinary charges after case management hearing

Inner Temple Library Current Awareness

Published January 28th, 2025

Detected April 8th, 2026

Summary

The Bar Standards Board has decided to bring forward publication of disciplinary charges against barristers to after the case management hearing, rather than waiting until a convening order is signed off less than 14 days before the substantive hearing. Following a public consultation that received eight responses broadly supporting earlier publication, the BSB rowed back from naming defendants at the point charges are brought due to concerns about stress on barristers. The regulator stated this balances openness with procedural fairness by allowing objections before publication.

View original document View source feed page

What changed

The BSB conducted a public consultation between July and October 2024 on proposed changes to enforcement regulations that would bring forward publication of disciplinary charges against barristers. Lady Harman's review had identified a case where 10 months elapsed between the decision to charge and any public details. The BSB originally considered naming respondents when charges are brought, but after responses highlighted concerns about disproportionate reputational harm and anxiety, the regulator decided publication should occur after the case management hearing. This allows parties opportunity to object to publication before it occurs. The BSB also announced renaming the fitness to practice regime to a health-focused approach, to be renamed Health Panel and Procedure Regulations.

Barristers facing disciplinary charges should note that their names will now enter the public domain earlier in the process than under the previous approach, though not as early as initially proposed. Legal professionals and the public can expect greater transparency about enforcement activity while the BSB manages preliminary issues through case management procedures. The forthcoming Health Panel consultation will address how impairment matters are handled under the revised framework.

What to do next

Monitor BSB enforcement regulation updates for the Health Panel and Procedure Regulations consultation expected spring 2025
Review internal procedures for responding to case management hearing publication of disciplinary charges
Note the distinction between early naming at charge stage (rejected) and publication after case management hearing (adopted)

Source document (simplified)

- 6 Comments

The Bar Standards Board is to bring forward publication of disciplinary charges faced by barristers – but has rowed back from naming defendants at the point when charges are brought.

Currently, the regulator does not name defendants until a date has been set for a substantive hearing and a convening order signed off – generally less than 14 days before the hearing takes place.

The decision appears in a statement following a public consultation on proposed 'in principle' changes to the bar's enforcement regulations conducted between July and October last year.

The BSB revealed last week that just eight responses were received by the consultation, all of which broadly supported the principle of bringing forward the publication of charges.

But following expressions of concern about the potential added stress for barristers, the regulator decided that publication should wait until after the case management hearing. The BSB said this would enhance openness and transparency but also give the parties extra time to address and resolve any preliminary issues.

It added: ‘We consider that it will promote greater procedural fairness, by allowing the barrister or the BSB the opportunity to object to publication before it occurs. In our view, the opportunity to raise and determine such objections or applications outweighs the benefits of publication at an earlier stage.’

Bar Standards Board plans enforcement shakeup
Firm called in to review bar’s struggling enforcement system The issue of delays in publication were raised during last year’s Harman review into bullying, harassment and sexual harassment at the bar. Lady Harman (the former MP Harriet Harman) cited one case where 10 months elapsed between the decision to charge and any details entering the public domain.

She proposed that the name of a respondent should be made public when the decision is taken to pursue charges and that an interlocutory hearing should consider any applications for anonymity. This early naming hearing would ensure transparency for professional and lay clients, encourage potential further complainants to come forward in the knowledge that they are not alone, and may serve to protect potential victims of misconduct.

However one respondent to the BSB consultation suggested that early publication of charges could ‘cause disproportionate reputational harm and unnecessary anxiety for the barrister concerned’. Another pointed out that publishing details when charges were brought would increase the time that the barrister and witnesses ‘have to endure this discomfort’.

The BSB also announced it would reset the ‘fitness to practice’ regime to facilitate a ‘more flexible and compassionate process’ to handling issues of physical or mental impairment. This was to be renamed the ‘health regime’, but one respondent to the consultation reflected much of the opposition when they said it sounded more ‘like a gym membership’. The regulator now proposes to name the regime along the lines of the ‘Health Panel and Procedure Regulations’, on which it will consult later this spring.