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This month marks International Women’s Day on Saturday 8 March and the global theme this year is to ‘Accelerate Action’ for gender equality. There are events planned across the Bar, and I would like to encourage you to take part in the activities organised this year.
We have published a new report on gross earnings at the self-employed Bar by sex and practice area. The findings are disappointing, and this is certainly one area to accelerate action for gender equality. Junior women earn on average 77% of what junior men are earning. Women silks earn on average 67% of their male colleagues’ median gross earnings.
Earnings gaps are a problem at all levels across the Bar and in every area of practice. The gap tends to be lowest at 0-3 years and highest from mid-career level and at KC level. The gap is also unacceptably wide in commercial and Chancery practice. We know that when chambers undertake meaningful assessments, compare earnings and put appropriate interventions in place, this makes a difference and the progress that follows the interventions is tangible.
So I would encourage you to read our latest report; use the information to look at what’s happening in your own area and make use of the Bar Council resources such as the earnings monitoring toolkit, guidance for practice reviews and take up the training and support on offer. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
The Bar Council has commissioned an independent review on bullying and harassment that is being conducted by Harriet Harman KC and expected later this year. In the meantime, we’ve produced a new poster to raise awareness and promote Talk to Spot, our online tool for people working in and around the Bar to record incidents of inappropriate behaviour. Please download, print and use the poster as you wish.
We also want to support colleagues by making it easier for people to return to the Bar, switch practice area or move between the employed and self-employed work. That’s why the Bar Council has recently launched a new dedicated webpage for ‘movers and returners’ that includes helpful tips, support and guidance for barristers. There will be a movers and returners conference on Thursday 22 May hosted at Inner Temple and you can book your place here.
The Independent Sentencing Review report (part one) was published in February. We are pleased it echoes some of our concerns about the causes and scale of the problem facing the criminal justice system. Successive governments have wanted to appear ‘tough on crime’ and have increased sentences. The increasing demand has not been matched with investment or coherent planning, so we are now in a crisis and reform is urgently needed.
Prison is not always the right long-term solution for offenders or for society. The sentencing regime needs to aim to deliver a reduction in crime and to increase public safety and confidence in the justice system.
We will continue to engage with all the parties involved in the various government reviews, initiatives and reform programmes and we will continue to push for an independent fee review body as a way of stabilising the future for the young Bar.
This year I want to promote the professional principles that we all share. We adhere to the highest ethical principles and support the rule of law both at home and abroad. The Bar Council helps to find business development opportunities for barristers and cooperates with international legal associations and professional bodies.
We have recently backed the International Bar Association in denouncing the United States sanctions against the International Criminal Court because we want to promote the vital role of lawyers in society, defend the independence of our courts and champion the rule of law.
I have two favours to ask. First, during the authorisation to practise period, please subscribe and pay the Bar Representation Fee (BRF) because it provides vital funding for our work. In April, we will ask you to please complete the Barristers’ Working Lives survey as it provides the evidential basis for much of our work.
Barbara Mills KC is the 2025 Chair of the Bar. She is a specialist family practitioner at 4PB and former Co-Chair of the Bar Council’s Race Working Group.
This month marks International Women’s Day on Saturday 8 March and the global theme this year is to ‘Accelerate Action’ for gender equality. There are events planned across the Bar, and I would like to encourage you to take part in the activities organised this year.
We have published a new report on gross earnings at the self-employed Bar by sex and practice area. The findings are disappointing, and this is certainly one area to accelerate action for gender equality. Junior women earn on average 77% of what junior men are earning. Women silks earn on average 67% of their male colleagues’ median gross earnings.
Earnings gaps are a problem at all levels across the Bar and in every area of practice. The gap tends to be lowest at 0-3 years and highest from mid-career level and at KC level. The gap is also unacceptably wide in commercial and Chancery practice. We know that when chambers undertake meaningful assessments, compare earnings and put appropriate interventions in place, this makes a difference and the progress that follows the interventions is tangible.
So I would encourage you to read our latest report; use the information to look at what’s happening in your own area and make use of the Bar Council resources such as the earnings monitoring toolkit, guidance for practice reviews and take up the training and support on offer. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
The Bar Council has commissioned an independent review on bullying and harassment that is being conducted by Harriet Harman KC and expected later this year. In the meantime, we’ve produced a new poster to raise awareness and promote Talk to Spot, our online tool for people working in and around the Bar to record incidents of inappropriate behaviour. Please download, print and use the poster as you wish.
We also want to support colleagues by making it easier for people to return to the Bar, switch practice area or move between the employed and self-employed work. That’s why the Bar Council has recently launched a new dedicated webpage for ‘movers and returners’ that includes helpful tips, support and guidance for barristers. There will be a movers and returners conference on Thursday 22 May hosted at Inner Temple and you can book your place here.
The Independent Sentencing Review report (part one) was published in February. We are pleased it echoes some of our concerns about the causes and scale of the problem facing the criminal justice system. Successive governments have wanted to appear ‘tough on crime’ and have increased sentences. The increasing demand has not been matched with investment or coherent planning, so we are now in a crisis and reform is urgently needed.
Prison is not always the right long-term solution for offenders or for society. The sentencing regime needs to aim to deliver a reduction in crime and to increase public safety and confidence in the justice system.
We will continue to engage with all the parties involved in the various government reviews, initiatives and reform programmes and we will continue to push for an independent fee review body as a way of stabilising the future for the young Bar.
This year I want to promote the professional principles that we all share. We adhere to the highest ethical principles and support the rule of law both at home and abroad. The Bar Council helps to find business development opportunities for barristers and cooperates with international legal associations and professional bodies.
We have recently backed the International Bar Association in denouncing the United States sanctions against the International Criminal Court because we want to promote the vital role of lawyers in society, defend the independence of our courts and champion the rule of law.
I have two favours to ask. First, during the authorisation to practise period, please subscribe and pay the Bar Representation Fee (BRF) because it provides vital funding for our work. In April, we will ask you to please complete the Barristers’ Working Lives survey as it provides the evidential basis for much of our work.
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