General Council of the Bar

The General Council of the Bar, commonly known as the Bar Council, is the professional association for barristers in England and Wales. Established in 1894, it acts as a disciplinary body and a regulatory body through the Bar Standards Board. The Bar Council also represents the interests of barristers.^[1]

History

The General Council of the Bar was created in 1894 to deal with breaches of a barrister's professional etiquette, something that had previously been handled by the judiciary.^[2] Along with the Inns of Court it formed the Senate of the Inns of Court and the Bar in 1974, a union that was broken up on 1 January 1987 following a report by Lord Rawlinson. The Courts and Legal Services Act 1990 designated the Bar Council as the professional body for barristers, with the role as a regulatory body being split off in 2006 to form the Bar Standards Board.

List of Chairs

• 1958 – Gerald Gardiner
• 1959 – Gerald Gardiner
• 2004 – Stephen Irwin^[3]
• 2015 – Alistair MacDonald^[4]
• 2016 – Chantal-Aimée Doerries^[4]

References

1. "About the Bar Council". General Council of the Bar. Retrieved 2015-05-01.
2. "History". General Council of the Bar. Retrieved 2009-10-03.
3. "Mr Justice Irwin". judiciary.gov.uk. Courts and Tribunals Judiciary. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
4. "New Chairman of the Bar takes the helm at the Bar Council". barcouncil.org.uk. The Bar Council. 7 January 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2016.