The BSB does not comment on whether or not we have received any information about the conduct of barrister or an authorised body regardless of how that information might have come to our attention. Such matters are dealt with in accordance with the procedures set out within the how we make enforcement decisions section. These processes remain confidential unless they result in a listing for a Disciplinary Tribunal hearing. The Bar Tribunals & Adjudication Service publishes the Tribunal listings on their website and the hearings are held in public.
Section 5.A8 of the BSB Handbook requires us to respect the confidentially of those who are the subject of reports about their conduct and stipulates that we will not disclose: the fact that a report has been made; the details of a report; or information about its disposal, except in certain circumstances.
However, we consider that the public should know when a barrister is facing charges of professional misconduct in front of a Disciplinary Tribunal. Therefore, when a Disciplinary Tribunal panel has been formally convened to hear charges against a barrister or an authorised body, details of the hearing and the charges are made public. They are posted on the website of the "Bar Tribunal and Adjudication Service" (BTAS) which is the independent body responsible for the administration and appointment of Disciplinary Tribunals. Please click here to access a list of forthcoming hearings, all of which are held in public.
It is also important that people can find out if a finding of professional misconduct has been made in relation to a barrister or authorised body. Both we and BTAS publish on our websites findings of professional misconduct by Disciplinary Tribunals. We also publish findings under the Determination by Consent procedure (although BTAS do not publish these findings).
Please visit our disciplinary tribunals webpages to access a list of recent disciplinary findings. Disciplinary findings against named barristers can be also be accessed via the Barristers’ Register.
Where charges against a barrister or authorised body have been dismissed by a Disciplinary Tribunal, we do not consider there is a public interest in information about the charges remaining publicly available. Therefore, we do not post dismissed charges on our website, nor do we comment on charges that have been dismissed.
In exceptional circumstances, where there is good reason and it is in the public interest, we have the discretion to reveal information about conduct reports which have not been referred to a Disciplinary Tribunal.
