A Bar to progress

The publication this week of a survey of students on the Bar Vocational Course by the Bar Council has confirmed how difficult it is for aspiring barristers to even get their foot in the door. Of the 71.5% of students who applied for a pupillage during the period of the survey, well over half did not receive so much as a single interview.

You can get a sense of the frustration that is building up by reading some of the posts that have gone up in response to our report on the survey (see story). “There is mounting fury from an ever increasing student body that the promise of working at the Bar, while always competitive, is near impossible if you don't fit the bill - even if you have the grades,” says one contributor.

Several senior judges and barristers who were educated in grammar schools and went on to secure places at the leading universities unburdened by the fees students must now pay are also known to be deeply worried about the problem. Indeed, a few years ago the Bar Council attempted to impose a levy on all barristers in order to help fund the underprivileged through their training. But the barristers now in practice rebelled and the plan was ditched.

Perhaps they should think again. At a time when the Government is committed to securing a diverse judiciary, the Bar risks being viewed as an elitist anachronism. If the Judicial Appointments Commissions decides that the Bar can no longer be viewed as credible hunting ground for judges it will be forced to look elsewhere, leaving the Bar on the sidelines.