CELs research leads to ethics rethink at the Bar

Research by Professor Richard Moorhead, Catrina Denvir, Nigel Balmer and Mark Sefton for the Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA) has, in part at least, prompted a review of ethics teaching for new advocates. The Bar Standards Board announced plans to review the way ethics is taught and assessed during the vocational stage (currently the Bar Professional Training Course) as part of a broader package of training reform. The Bar Council, in submitting its response to the BSB’s consultation on training for barristers suggested the research showed that the ethics education on the BPTC was not fit for purpose. ICCA is also improving its support for the New Practitioner Programme based on the research. You can read the research here. The research examined the knowledge and skills demonstrated by advocates in practice within three years of qualifying. It was funded by the Legal Education Foundation.