In 2022 the Australian Government announced reform to Australia’s system of administrative review. The reform will abolish the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) and establish a new federal administrative review body. The key points made by the Law Council in its response include: Accessibility, independence and impartiality must underpin all aspects of the new body. The…
Bar Standards Board of England and Wales sets out plan to assure competence of barristers
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) of England and Wales has responded to the Legal Services Board statement on ongoing competence. The response comes with an action plan for ensuring the competence of barristers. Currently the BSB employs a number of measures to ensure competence including: The Professional Statement, which describes the knowledge, skills and aptitude that…
Board of Trustees approve options for California Supreme Court to review to extend the Provisional Licensure Programme
With the successful Provisional Licensure program due to come to an end on 31st December 2022, The California State Bar of trustees has approved 3 options for extending the programme which are to be presented to the Supreme Court. The programme, a response to the COVID-19 Pandemic and directed by the Supreme Court, has seen…
Bar of Ireland publishes independent review into the future of the provision of barrister services
The Bar of Ireland has today published a new independent report and strategic review on the likely future landscape for the provision of legal services by barristers with a view to identifying a strategic response from the Council to ensure the future of the profession. It follows a year-long process of consultation, analysis, and consideration….
The Scottish Government has released the results of its public consultation process into the outcomes of the 2017 Roberton Review
In 2017, the Scottish Government commissioned an independent Review of the regulation of legal services in Scotland (known as the Robertson Review). The primary recommendation from this was: “There should be a single regulator for all providers of legal services in Scotland. It should be independent of both government and those it regulates. It should…
The consultation period for the New Zealand Law Society’s review of the statutory framework for legal services is now open
The New Zealand Law Society | Te Kāhui Ture o Aotearoa welcomes the release of the Independent Review Panel’s Discussion Document. The Independent Review of the statutory framework for legal services in Aotearoa New Zealand was commissioned in 2021 by the Law Society Board to examine the regulation and representation of legal services in Aotearoa…
The New Zealand Law Society launches an independent review of the statutory framework governing legal services
The New Zealand Law Society has commissioned an independent review of the regulatory framework governing legal services to examine the regulation and representation of legal services in Aotearoa New Zealand, including the structure and functions of the Law Society. This review has been described as a ‘once in a generation’ review. The Independent Review will…
Bar Standards Board publishes independent review of 2020 qualifying exams
The Bar Standards Board (BSB) has published the results of an independent review of the August 2020 Bar Professional Training Course (BPTC) exams, the exams used by the Board as part of the qualification process for barristers. The review was commissioned by the BSB in November 2020 and was conducted by Professor Rebecca Huxley-Binns, the…
UK Competition and Markets Authority review of legal services market
The UK Competition and Markets Authority has released an updated report based on its initial findings on the legal services market published in 2016. The report recognises the improvements that have been made in increasing the transparency of the price, service and quality of legal services, but said there was more to do to increase…
Mayson Report: Final report published
The highly anticipated denouement of the Independent Review of Legal Services, which was first launched in October 2018, was published on the 11th June. The 340-page report which has been informed by a number of working papers, as well as an interim report, which has been fed into by a variety of actors in the…