The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has today launched a consultation, following a review and redesign of its end-to-end enforcement process. It is part of the BSB’s work to modernise delivery of its gatekeeping and enforcement functions aimed at greater efficiency, transparency and speed. It follows a review of how the regulator’s enforcement system operates by Fieldfisher LLP in April 2024. The recommendations from the review were accepted by the BSB’s Board.
This consultation seeks feedback on proposed “in principle” changes to the BSB’s Enforcement Regulations in Part 5 of the BSB Handbook. This covers a broad range of issues including wider principle and procedure, substantial alterations to its current process and changes that clarify existing practice. It will address changes to the Enforcement Decision Regulations, Disciplinary Tribunal Regulations, Interim Suspension Regulations, and the Fitness to Practice regime and issues of publication and open justice.
The consultation is open until Wednesday 15 October 2025 and a second consultation on draft regulations will follow in 2026. The BSB aims for the new regulations to come into effect from 2027.
Some of the key changes the regulator is seeking views on are:
- Enabling the BSB to accelerate cases, including those of bullying and harassment.
- The BSB is proposing that witnesses in cases involving allegations of a sexual or violent nature have an automatic presumption of anonymity to provide more assurance when a report is made and investigated.
- The BSB also proposes to bring publication of cases forward either to when charges are served by the BSB, or when case management directions are made by the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service.
- The BSB proposes that, following the publication of charges, all subsequent proceedings and hearings are in public in disciplinary matters, unless the Tribunal orders otherwise.
- The BSB proposes to improve the Disciplinary Tribunals Regulations to give the Bar Tribunals and Adjudication Service greater power to manage cases.
- The BSB is asking whether, in future, all Tribunal panels should consist of three people, instead of five people as now, and are inviting views on the desired qualifications and experience of those persons.
- Updating its approach to interim suspension orders where it considers that the protection of the public, public interest or client interests requires that a barrister be suspended ahead of a Tribunal decision in disciplinary proceedings.
- Resetting the “Fitness to Practise” regime to a “health” regime to facilitate a more flexible and compassionate process to handle issues of physical or mental impairment.
- Finally, the regulator is seeking views on a more immediate change to defer service on a barrister of written allegations of potential breaches of the BSB Handbook to close to the conclusion, rather than at the commencement as now, of an investigation.