Editing Barrister (section)

====England and Wales====
{{main|Barristers in England and Wales}}
[[File:Photograph of Helena Normanton c. 1930 (22770439042).jpg|thumb|[[Helena Normanton]], one of the first female British barristers]]
Although with somewhat different laws, [[England]] and [[Wales]] are considered within the United Kingdom [[England and Wales|a single united and unified legal jurisdiction]] for the purposes of both civil and criminal law, alongside Scotland and Northern Ireland, the other two legal jurisdictions within the United Kingdom. England and Wales are covered by a common bar and a single law society.

The profession of barrister in England and Wales is a separate profession from that of solicitor. It is, however, possible to hold the qualification of both barrister and solicitor, and/or chartered legal executive at the same time. It is not necessary to leave the bar to qualify as a solicitor.

Barristers are regulated by the [[Bar Standards Board]], a division of the [[General Council of the Bar]]. A barrister must be a member of one of the [[Inns of Court]], which traditionally educated and regulated barristers. There are four Inns of Court: [[Lincoln's Inn|The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn]], [[Gray's Inn|The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn]], [[Middle Temple|The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple]], and [[Inner Temple|The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple]]. All are located in central [[London]], near the [[Royal Courts of Justice]]. They perform both scholastic and social roles, and in all cases, provide financial aid to student barristers (subject to merit) through scholarships. It is the Inns that call students to the Bar at a ceremony akin to a graduation. Social functions include dining with other members and guests and hosting other events.

Law graduates wishing to work and be known as barristers must take a course of professional training (known as the "vocational component") at one of the institutions approved by the Bar Council. Until late 2020 this course was exclusively the [[Bar Professional Training Course]], but since then the approved training offer was broadened to would-be barristers via a number of different courses, such as the new Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court College of Advocacy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) |url=https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/law-sector/bar-professional-training-course-bptc#:~:text=The%20Bar%20Professional%20Training%20Course,number%20of%20new%20Bar%20courses. |access-date=2022-03-22 |website=Prospects.ac.uk}}</ref> On successful completion of the vocational component, student barristers are called to the bar by their respective inns and are elevated to the degree of barrister. However, before they can practise independently they must first undertake 12 months of [[pupillage]]. The first six months (the "non-practising period") are spent shadowing more senior practitioners, after which pupil barristers may begin to undertake some court work of their own (the "practising period"). Following successful completion of this stage, most barristers then join a set of Chambers, a group of counsel who share the costs of premises and support staff whilst remaining individually self-employed.

There are approximately 17,000 barristers, of whom about ten per cent are [[King's Counsel]] and about 4,000 are "young barristers"" (i.e., under seven years' Call).<ref name="demographics-dashboard">{{cite web |title=Demographics dashboard |url=https://www.barcouncil.org.uk/policy-representation/dashboards/demographics-dashboard.html |publisher=The Bar Council |access-date=27 April 2023}}</ref> In April 2023, there were 13,800 barristers in self-employed practice.<ref name="demographics-dashboard" /> In 2022, there were about 3,100 employed barristers working in companies as in-house counsel, or in local or national government, academic institutions, or the armed forces.<ref>{{cite web |title=Life at the Employed Bar |url=https://www.barcouncil.org.uk/uploads/assets/28e5c2f2-8931-4e95-ab7f91a777466367/Life-at-the-Employed-Bar-report-Feb-2023.pdf#:~:text=4.1%20Number%20of%20employed%20barristers%20(inc.&text=In%202022%2C%20there%20was%20a,%2D%20known%20as%20dual%20capacity). |publisher=The Bar Council |access-date=27 April 2023}}</ref>

Certain barristers in England and Wales are now instructed directly by members of the public.<ref>[http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/about/find-a-barrister/public-access-directory/ Public Access Directory of The Bar Council] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229171106/http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/about/find-a-barrister/public-access-directory/ |date=December 29, 2011 }}</ref> Members of the public may engage the services of the barrister directly within the framework of the [[Public Access Scheme]]; a solicitor is not involved at any stage. Barristers undertaking public access work can provide legal advice and representation in court in almost all areas of law<ref>[http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/guidance/publicaccessinformationforlayclients/ Barcouncil.org.uk] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100322204941/http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/guidance/publicaccessinformationforlayclients/ |date=March 22, 2010 }}</ref> and are entitled to represent clients in any court or tribunal in England and Wales. Once instructions from a client are accepted, it is the barrister who advises and guides the client through the relevant legal procedure or litigation.

Before a barrister can undertake Public Access work, they must have completed a special course. At present, about one in 20 barristers has so qualified. There is also a separate scheme called "Licensed Access", available to certain nominated classes of professional client. It is not open to the general public. Public access work is experiencing a huge surge at the bar, with barristers taking advantage of the new opportunity for the bar to make profit in the face of legal aid cuts elsewhere in the profession.

The ability of barristers to accept such instructions is a recent development; it results from a change in the rules set down by the General Council of the Bar in July 2004. The Public Access Scheme has been introduced as part of the drive to open up the legal system to the public and to make it easier and cheaper to obtain access to legal advice. It further reduces the distinction between solicitors and barristers. The distinction remains however because there are certain aspects of a solicitor's role that a barrister is not able to undertake.

Historically a barrister might use the honorific, ''[[Esquire]]''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=May |first1=Geoffrey |last2=Pollitt |first2=Basil |title=English Legal Practice: Its Applicability to America |journal=Kentucky Law Journal |date=1939 |volume=27 |issue=2 |page=171}}</ref> Even though the term ''barrister-at-law'' is sometimes seen, and was once very common, it has never been formally correct in England and Wales. Barrister is the only correct nomenclature.<ref>This was confirmed by the Professional Conduct Committee of the Bar Council when it changed its rules on the usage of the description by individuals in 1970, Annual Statement of the Bar Council, 1969/70.</ref>

Barristers are expected to maintain very high standards of professional conduct. The objective of the barristers code of conduct is to avoid dominance by either the barrister or the client and the client being enabled to make informed decisions in a supportive atmosphere<ref>{{cite journal|author=R. Dinerstein|title=Client-centred counselling: Reappraisal and refinement|date=1990|volume=32|journal=Arizona Law Review|pages=501, 541}}</ref> and, in turn, the client expects (implicitly and/or explicitly) the barrister to uphold their duties, namely by acting in the client's best interests (CD2), acting with honesty and integrity (CD3), keeping the client's affairs confidential (CD6) and working to a competent standard (CD7). These core duties (CDs) are a few, among others, that are enshrined in the BSB Handbook.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bar Standard Board Handbook|publisher=Bar Standards Board|url= https://www.barstandardsboard.org.uk/regulatory-requirements/bsb-handbook/}} Version 4.6 of the ''BSB Handbook'' came into force on 31 December 2020.</ref>