Barristers are a type of lawyer in England and Wales who are trained to represent clients in court and give expert legal advice. They are members of the Bar, which is one of the two branches of the legal profession in England and Wales, along with solicitors. Barristers typically specialize in a particular area of law and are often instructed by solicitors to represent clients in court or to provide legal advice on specific cases. They are also required to be self-employed, and work in chambers or as a tenant in a set of barristers’ chambers
Organisations that regulate/ train barristers
- Bar Standards Board: Barristers are regulated by the Bar Standards Board (“BSB”), a division of the General Council of the Bar (i.e. the Bar Council of England). It is the BSB that regulates the qualifications and conduct of the barristers. BSB Handbook provides detailed rules in this regard.
- Inns of Court: A barrister must be a member of one of the Inns of Court, which traditionally educated and regulated barristers. There are four Inns of Court: (i) The Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn, (ii) The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, (iii) The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, and (iv) The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple. It is the Inns that actually “call” the student to the Bar at a ceremony similar to a graduation. Functions include hosting educational and social events, which are regarded as “qualifying sessions” for the members.
Bar Schools: Barristers are generally trained and educated in Bar Schools, which are universities and law schools approved by the BSB to provide such training and hold required assessments.
How to become a Barrister in England and Wales
In order to qualify as a barrister, the general route requires undertaking three components of training:
| Academic Components | Vocational Components | Work-Based Training |
Obligations I (Contract Law) Obligations II (Tort)
Criminal Law
Equity & the Law of Trusts
European Union Law
Land Law
Public Law (Constitutional & Administrative Law)
English Legal System
Another Area of Legal Study | Advocacy
Civil Litigation
Criminal Litigation, Evidence, and Sentencing
Professional Ethics
Opinion Writing & Legal Research
Drafting
Conference Skills | Pupilage
the non-practicing six months (the ‘first six’)
the practicing six months (the ‘second six’) |
- In general, a student completes the academic component through his/her LLB degree or GDL (Graduate Diploma in Law) degree under any approved UK institution. Once the academic component is completed, he/she must apply for admission to any bar school for the completion of the vocational component.
- In the meantime, he/she also obtains membership in an Inns of Court and start attending Qualifying Sessions at the Inn. After successfully passing the examination for the Vocational Components and completing the required number of qualifying sessions, the student becomes eligible for the Call. He/she is then called to the bar by his/her respective Inn. At this point, he/she shall be regarded as an ‘Unregistered Barrister’.
- Afterward, the new barrister needs to to secure a ‘pupilage’ at a set of chambers to complete the work-based component. In general, the pupilage is of twelve (12) months and consists of two parts – Six months of supervised pupilage (non-practicing, first six) where the pupil barrister only shadows the pupil master and conducts drafting and legal research alone. Upon successful completion of the first six, the pupil barrister gets to the unsupervised part of the pupilage (practicing, second six) where he/she can appear before the court.
- Upon successful completion of the pupilage, the pupil barrister can apply for a ‘Practising Certificate’ to the BSB, and only then he/she becomes a practicing barrister in England and Wales.
For qualified foreign lawyers, BSB has the sole discretion to grant exemption from any and all of the above components. BSB Handbook suggests that such an exemption is granted subject to the passing of a number of examinations from the vocational components, which is known as the Bar Transfer Test (BTT).
BAR TRANSFER TEST
Who are eligible?
- The BSB Handbook allows qualified foreign lawyers (QFL) to apply for exemptions and permission to sit in the BTT. As per the manual, a QFL is “a person who is a member of a regulated legal profession in a jurisdiction outside England and Wales and is entitled to practise as such.”
- Furthermore, BSB Handbook states that “a Qualified Foreign Lawyer who has for a period of at least three years regularly exercised full rights of audience in courts which administer law substantially similar to the common law of England and Wales” may be entitled to a partial exemption from the required three components (academic, vocational and work-based) of the Bar training.
Therefore, in the context of Bangladesh, you must be an advocate enrolled by the Bangladesh Bar Council with a valid practicing license (sanad) for at least three (3) years to be eligible for the BTT. You have to arrange a certificate of good standing (Testimonial) from the Bangladesh Bar Council.
Exemption from BSB
- The BSB has the sole discretion to grant specific exemptions on some or all the required components of the bar training curriculum, after assessing your academic background and prior experience as an advocate in the commonwealth country, i.e. Bangladesh.
- An applicant who holds a law degree from the UK or a Common Law Jurisdiction, such as Bangladesh, may usually not be required to pass the Academic Component sections.
The subjects of the Bar Transfer Test
- Professional Ethics;
- Criminal Litigation, Evidence, and Sentencing;
- Civil Litigation & Evidence (Two Papers);
- Advocacy (Civil Application, Examination-in-Chief and Cross Examination);
- Opinion Writing;
- Drafting;
- Legal Research; and
- Conferencing.
Procedure of Bar Transfer Test
- Once an exemption letter has been received candidates have 5 years in which to complete the BTT.
- BTT exams are taken by the BPP University in three slots every year – Spring (March-April), Summer (August-September), and Winter (December-January).
- Candidates are required to take all components that are on their BSB exemption letter.
- The exams are usually held over a period of one month. Generally, the written exams come first, followed by the advocacy assessments and the submission assessments.
- The training for Advocacy (provided by BPP University) is compulsory for all candidates being required to take the Advocacy assessments. Optional training is offered by BPP University for Professional Ethics, Civil Litigation, Criminal Litigation, and other modules.
- Candidates will gain access to the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and Online Library of BPP University a month before the first training session of the BTT sitting. In addition, candidates will be sent mock papers which are for the purpose of self-study. Training material will be provided for the Advocacy training weekend to all candidates who are required to attend (candidates are required to submit a skeleton argument in advance of this weekend).
- Candidates are required to SELF-STUDY using the Bar Standards Board Bar Transfer Test handbook and syllabus for each component of the programme.
Training and Examination Structure of BTT
BPP University conducts the training and the assessment. Of all the subjects, only two are conducted centrally by the BSB – Civil Litigation and Criminal Litigation. The remaining are conducted by the respective bar schools (e.g. BPP University for the BTT Candidates). Please visit the relevant webpage of BPP University for further details.
How to prepare for the BTT Examination
Proper Planning. BTT requires serious academic rigour and absorption of a huge amount of new information (i.e. legal provisions of England and Wales) within a short period of time.
Adequate resources. BTT candidates are advised to self-study as per the syllabus provided by BSB.
Finding a Mentor. For most candidates, BTT often comes as extremely challenging due to the lack of familiarity with the content, exam, and assessment system as well as studying methods. Therefore, an experienced mentor can be very useful in your preparation.
Challenges faced by BTT Candidates
- Language Barrier. Fluency in English (speaking, reading, writing and listening are mandatory). It is, therefore, suggested that the candidates have IELTS 7.5 of equivalent skill in English.
- Planned Study. Random study without proper planning and guidance ends up in failure. IT IS STRONGLY ADVISED TO HAVE A MENTOR OR A PROPER GUIDELINE AHEAD OF YOU IF YOU ARE DETERMINED TO SUCCEED.
- Lack of Motivation and Commitment. For practicing lawyers, BTT is a massive commitment that requires intense studying and prioritizing BTT over professional commitments. It often becomes difficult for BTT Candidates to separate time and proper concentration for their studies.
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