DOCSLIB.ORG

Response to the Bar Standards Board's Consultation Paper

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Response to the Bar Standards Board's Consultation Paper RESPONSE TO THE BAR STANDARDS BOARD’S CONSULTATION PAPER “Future Bar Training: Shaping the education and training requirements for prospective barristers” BY THE MIDDLE TEMPLE HALL COMMITTEE’S WORKING GROUP ON ISSUES FACING THE JUNIOR BAR Introduction Pages 1 to 2 Executive Summary Pages 3 to 6 Response to Part 3 – Role of Inns of Court Pages 7 to 21 Response to Part 3 – Work-Based Training Pages 22 to 28 Response to Part 3 – Authorisation Framework Page 29 Annex 1 Pages 30 to 52 Introduction 1. The Hall Committee of Middle Temple (“HC”) represents the interests of the majority of the members of the Inn: that is, any member who is not a Bencher. As such, HC represents a broad spectrum of members from students to Judges. 2. In mid-2015, HC set up a Working Group in response to ever growing concerns about the numbers of BPTC graduates who are unable to find pupillage and thus to obtain a practising certificate. 3. The Working Group’s primary purpose was to explore ways of increasing pupillage opportunities at both the independent and employed Bars, in the interests both of aspiring barristers and of the general public. In October 2015, the Working Group produced its own response to the 2015 BSB consultation on Future Bar Training. Since then the Working Group’s remit has expanded to consider issues facing the Junior Bar and relevant consultations affecting them. 4. This response has been drafted with the assistance of members of BACFI, Middle Temple Students Association and Middle Temple Young Barristers Association1. As such it represents the concerns and views of the cross-section of stakeholders most affected by the issues addressed in the consultation, Bar students, newly qualified members and barristers that practise at both the self-employed and employed Bar. 5. In 2015, the Working Group concentrated its response to the pupillage issues addressed by the BSB. In this response, we address Part 3 which we consider to be the most relevant to our members. 1 Middle Temple Young Barristers’ Association (“MTYBA”) comprises members of the Inn who are between call and up to five years post-pupillage experience. MTYBA therefore represents those at pre-pupillage, pupillage and tenancy. 2 Executive Summary 1. The Role of the Inns of Court in Barrister Training A. Student Membership of an Inn 7. All members of the Working Group are members of the Inn who have first hand experience of the benefits that such membership has, and continues, to given them. Their views therefore carry considerable weight when considering the issue of the Role of the Inns of Court in the training of barristers. 8. Like other vocations, barristers learn their trade combining experience with instruction. This is as true of a student barrister as it is of a Supreme Court Justice. Perhaps uniquely however, the Inns of Court offer barristers a professional home, from cradle to grave, over their entire career. The services provided by the Inn are created with the objective of providing support to Inn members throughout their professional lives. This objective is particularly focused to the educational and training needs of members from students onwards. 9. The educational and training services provided by the Inn extend well beyond mere instruction and experience. They are built on the foundation that in order to train and prepare students for the Bar and support Barristers in practise, that training needs to include as many skills required for the Bar as possible. These skills include both soft social skills such as an ability to engage others at all levels from student to Supreme Court Justice, and hard skills such as advocacy and legal knowledge. The Professional Statement itself recognises that a combination of both soft and hard skills is the minimum benchmark required on ‘day one’ of practice. 10. The benefit of the collegiate environment offered by the Inns to students cannot be overstated. It enables students to learn and be mentored in a nurturing and supportive environment at a critical time in their career when they need the most support. This in turn leads to increased confidence, better standards and the maintenance and growth of a socially mobile and diverse Bar. 3 11. The Bar is a demanding and at times lonely profession. In addition, the profession is currently evolving to meet both the opportunities afforded by direct access and litigation and the challenges presented by increased competition from other sectors in the legal market (e.g. paralegals, solicitors etc.) Anyone seeking to become a barrister from whatever background faces both these opportunities and challenges. Now more than ever, students and barristers need guidance, collegiality, stability, mentorship and instruction provided by their peers in an environment which offers them the sense of security and collegiality that membership of an Inn at the earliest stage of their career as students provides. This is not something that can be replicated by other institutions or replaced by other offerings. 12. Finally, it should be noted that mandatory student membership provides access to scholarships that are vital to enabling students to pursue a career at the Bar. In 2017, Middle Temple had a 44% increase in BPTC scholarship applications. Again, the benefit of scholarships to access to the Bar cannot be underestimated. 13. We are firmly of the view that unless the requirement for mandatory student membership of an Inn is maintained there is a very serious risk that those most in need of the benefits offered by membership i.e. students from socio-economic under privileged backgrounds will be detrimentally affected. This will in turn imperil all the efforts being made across the Bar to ensure that access to it is afforded to any able candidate, regardless of background, race, wealth, religion or colour. 14. We attach as an Annex individual responses to this part of the consultation which provide specific examples and evidence of the benefits summarised above. Whilst we understand that the BSB will consider this as a one response, the specific examples annexed should also be counted as individual responses. B. Qualifying Sessions 15. Many of the issues relating to the content and delivery of QS are linked to the benefits of membership of an Inn. The purpose of the QS is to act as a bridge between vocational training and pupillage and to provide students with (i) a depth of understanding, and appreciation, of the values of the Bar; (ii) practical legal training 4 and essential soft skills; (iii) an understanding of the United Kingdom’s place in the common law world and commitment to diversity and racial equality. 16. QS provided by the Inns offer exceptional value for money and are delivered by exceptionally well-qualified practitioners. A prime example of this are the residential advocacy weekends which provide unparalleled training by those at all stages of the judicial process; i.e. the advocates and the judges. Middle Temple offers 222 places to this per annum, spread over the year. These count as 3 qualifying sessions and the cost, including accommodation, meals and 8 hrs. of training, divided into 3hr lectures and 5 hrs. of workshops in groups of 6 is £170 per student, of which the student pay £88. Assuming that the quality of training could be replicated elsewhere (which it could not), the most conservative estimate of the market cost of this QS would be £4,000 per student. In other words, Middle Temple provides £888,000 worth of training at a combined cost to 222 students of £19,536, i.e. at only 2.2% of the actual price a commercial provider would charge. 17. We are firmly of the view that (i) QS should continue to be prescribed as mandatory training requirements, (ii) that the current QS arrangements should be maintained; and (iii) only the Inns are qualified or able to provide the QS required. 18. We also rely on the individual examples set out in the Annex in support of our response. 19. Finally, we are concerned that there may exist some misconceptions about the value and importance of QS and we would be delighted to invite relevant BSB representatives to some Inn QS so they can experience first hand the benefits set out in this response. C. Educational & Fit & Proper Responsibilities 20. We adopt the responses provided by COIC on qs. 1, 4, 5, 6 & 7, on the basis that they are best placed to respond to them. 5 2. Future Arrangements for the Work-Based Component of Training 21. The Working Group thinks that whilst there is a need for more flexibility in order to accommodate the diverse requirements of in-house and chambers’ based pupillages, the basic requirements for a 12-month pupillage with a provisional practising certificate awarded at the end of the first 6 months, should be maintained. 22. We are firmly of the view that the minimum pupillage award should be raised in line with the Living Wage Foundation benchmark. 23. With regard to the ATO issues, we consider that re-authorisation should be introduced and should last at least 5 years for established providers and 2 years for new providers or those where there are concerns about ability to meet requirements. 24. With regard to the issues relating to pupil supervisors we consider that (i) pupil supervisors should only supervise one pupil unless an exemption is obtained; (ii) the BSB should prescribe pupil supervisor outcomes with the ATO providing assurance of outcome delivery; (iii) pupillage supervisor training should not be provided by any other providers; (iv) there should be mandatory pupillage supervisor training every 5 years; (v) the only mandatory pupillage course that could or should be opened up to other providers is the forensic accounting course.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Is a Place on the Bench for You? the Basics of Becoming a Bencher …
    Is a place on the Bench for you? The Basics of Becoming a Bencher …. Several BACFI members are Benchers of their respective Inns. As such we thought that BACFI members, employed and self-employed barristers alike, might like to know a little more about the historic origins of this process, and how the modern day Bencher Application process works at each Inn of Court. The Inns are very supportive of nominations and applications from Employed Barristers. As a result of this article we hope that Employed Barristers in particular wish to be Benchers. What is a Bencher? Benchers provide the governance of each of the separate Inns of Court. They are primarily comprised of Judges, QCs and Barristers, self-employed and employed, and are individuals of significant standing and/or who have made a major contribution to the work and life of their Inn. The name comes from when the most senior barristers were permitted to sit on the bench at moots. This class of barristers became known as "Benchers" or "Masters of the Bench". Currently, after being successfully elected, a Bencher receives “voice and vote” meaning that they can both speak at the highest level of meetings of Benchers and also vote and receive papers on matters that need to be decided by the Inn. What do Benchers do? Benchers, as part of the decision making structure of the Inns of Court, will be involved in the governance of the Inn (which includes all issues related to the Inn including education, training, the library, finances, admittance of student members, election of other Benchers, dining and social occasions and other issues, such as advertising).
    [Show full text]
  • The Inns of Court and the Impact on the Legal Profession in England
    SMU Law Review Volume 4 Issue 4 Article 2 1950 The Inns of Court and the Impact on the Legal Profession in England David Maxwell-Fyfe Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr Recommended Citation David Maxwell-Fyfe, The Inns of Court and the Impact on the Legal Profession in England, 4 SW L.J. 391 (1950) https://scholar.smu.edu/smulr/vol4/iss4/2 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in SMU Law Review by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. 19501 THE INNS OF COURT THE INNS OF COURT AND THE IMPACT ON THE LEGAL PROFESSION IN ENGLAND The Rt. Hon. Sir David Maxwell-Fyfe, K.C., M.P., London, England A TTHE present day there are many eminent lawyers who have received a part, perhaps the greater part, of their legal grounding at Oxford or Cambridge or other universities, but there was a time when no legal teaching of any consequence, except in Canon and Roman law, was obtainable anywhere outside the Inns of Court. Sir Wm. Blackstone called them "Our Judicial Univer- sity." In them were taught and trained the barristers and the judges who molded and developed the common law and the principles of equity. The Inns were not in earlier times, as they are now, inhabited merely during the daytime by lawyers and students who dispersed in all directions to their homes every night.
    [Show full text]
  • Bar of Ireland to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority Concerning the Education and Training Arrangements in the State for Legal Practitioners
    Submission by Council of The Bar of Ireland to the Legal Services Regulatory Authority Concerning the Education and Training Arrangements in the State for Legal Practitioners 15th June 2018 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE PART 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 3 PART 2: SCOPE OF THE CONSULTATION 5 PART 3: PUPILLAGE AND THE NEW PRACTITIONERS PROGRAMME 6 PART 4: CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 10 PART 5: ARRANGEMENTS TO TRANSFER BETWEEN LEGAL PROFESSIONS 15 PART 6: OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE 20 CONSIDERATION OF THE LSRA AS PART OF THIS CONSULTATION APPENDIX 1: GUIDELINES FOR MASTERS AND PUPILS 22 APPENDIX 2: CPD SCHEME RULES 23 APPENDIX 3: COMPARISONS WITH OTHER JURISDICTIONS 27 APPENDIX 4: LAW LIBRARY MEMBERSHIP TRENDS 2008 - 2018 28 2 PART 1: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Council of The Bar of Ireland is the accredited representative body of the independent referral Bar in Ireland, which consists of members of the Law Library and has a current membership of approximately 2,200 practising barristers. The Bar of Ireland is long established and its members have acquired a reputation amongst solicitors, clients and members of the public at large as providing representation and advices of the highest professional standards. The principles that barristers are independent, owe an overriding duty to the proper administration of justice and that the interests of their clients are defended fearlessly in accordance with ethical duties are at the heart of the independent referral bar. As it is the Honorable Society of the King’s Inns who has the responsibility for the education and training of students in order to be admitted to the degree of Barrister-at-Law, this submission will confine itself to matters relating to the ongoing professional education and training arrangements in place for newly qualified and practising barristers.
    [Show full text]
  • Middle Temple Members' Guide
    CE 4140 Booklet make-up v6:Layout 1 9/10/14 4:00 PM Page 1 MIDDLE TEMPLE MEMBERS’ GUIDE 2014/15 CE 4140 Booklet make-up v6:Layout 1 9/10/14 4:00 PM Page 2 THE TEMPLE WELCOME INNER TEMPLE LANE FLEET STREET Contacts Welcome to this third edition of the 1 BURNTON BUILDINGS GOLDSMITH BUILDING Middle Temple Members’ Guide, which 1A -1B 2 4 MIDDLE TEMPLE LANE i General Enquiries we have created to give you an overview 3 The Treasury Office of the services and facilities available to HARE COURT Ashley Building you as a Member, and to help you make TEMPLE CHURCH Middle Temple Lane the very most of what the Inn has to offer. London 4 BRICK CLOISTERS COURT Whether your interests lie in sponsoring 4A ESSEXi COURT5 ESSEX EC4Y 9BT PUMP COURT 9 DEVEREUXi COURT COURT T: 020 7427 4800 a student, hosting an event in our historic ESSEX COURT BRICK COURT CAR PARK buildings, dining with us, staying in our INNER TEMPLE F: 020 7427 4801 HALL PUMP COURT E: [email protected] overnight accommodation, joining our i 1 BRICK ELM COURT W: www.middletemple.org.uk fundraising programmes or one of our COURT LAMB 1 ESSEX BUILDING societies, or just obtaining contact details NEW COURT DEVEREUX CHAMBERSCOURT Estates for our departments, we hope you will find CROWN OFFICE ROW FOUNTAIN COURT T: 020 7427 4840 this Guide useful. CARPMAEL BUILDING i TUDOR STREET GATE E: [email protected] 35 ESSEX ST MIDDLE TEMPLE HALL If you are yet to become a Member, do FOUNTAIN COURT PLOWDEN Events use this Guide to get a sense of what the BUILDINGS GARDEN COURT T: 020 7427 4820 Inn offers you.
    [Show full text]
  • Barristers and Judges in England Today Rt
    Fordham Law Review Volume 51 | Issue 3 Article 1 1982 Barristers and Judges in England Today Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Megarry Recommended Citation Rt. Hon. Sir Robert Megarry, Barristers and Judges in England Today, 51 Fordham L. Rev. 387 (1982). Available at: http://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/flr/vol51/iss3/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by FLASH: The orF dham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. It has been accepted for inclusion in Fordham Law Review by an authorized administrator of FLASH: The orF dham Law Archive of Scholarship and History. For more information, please contact [email protected]. BARRISTERS AND JUDGES IN ENGLAND TODAY* RT. HON. SIR ROBERT MEGARRY** t is indeed an honour to be invited to deliver the Twelfth Annual John F. Sonnett lecture at Fordham University. It is also some- what intimidating to be following in the footsteps of my eleven highly distinguished predecessors, including, as they do, Chief Justices of the United States, of England and of Ireland. At one stage I began to fear that I would be struck dumb; but I am a lawyer, and I was comforted by the well-known rule of medical diagnosis in your country. This is that you can always tell the state of a lawyer's health by looking at his mouth: if it is shut, he is dead. I hope that I am not. The careers of my predecessors in office, and that of John F. Son- nett himself, suggested that my subjectshould be professional rather than academic in nature, and so I shall speak of barristers and judges in England today.
    [Show full text]
  • 1 the Bsb Handbook Part V
    Annexe D Part V: Enforcement Regulations THE BSB HANDBOOK PART V – ENFORCEMENT REGULATIONS CONTENTS A. THE COMPLAINTS REGULATIONS A1 POWERS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE PCC A2 INITIAL PROCEDURE TO BE FOLLOWED BY THE PCC WHEN DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS RECEIVED FROM PERSONS OTHER THAN THE BAR STANDARDS BOARD A3 PROCEDURE FOR DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS TO BE HANDLED BY THE PCC - GENERAL A4 POSSIBLE OUTCOMES OF AN INVESTIGATION OF A COMPLAINT UNDER SECTION V.A3 A5 DETERMINATION BY CONSENT A6 APPEALS A7 REOPENING OR RECONSIDERING COMPLAINTS WHICH HAVE BEEN DISPOSED OF A8 CONFIDENTIALITY A9 INTERPRETATION A10 COMMENCEMENT B. THE DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNALS REGULATIONS B1 ARRANGEMENT OF THE REGULATIONS B2 THE REGULATIONS B3 CITATION, COMMENCEMENT AND REVOCATIONS B4 ANNEXES TO THE DISCIPLINARY TRIBUNALS REGULATIONS C. THE HEARINGS BEFORE THE VISITORS RULES C1 ARRANGEMENT OF THE RULES C2 THE RULES C3 ANNEXES TO THE HEARINGS BEFORE THE VISITORS RULES D. THE INTERIM SUSPENSION AND DISQUALIFICATION REGULATIONS D1 APPLICATION D2 THE REGULATIONS D3 INTERPRETATION 1 Annexe D Part V: Enforcement Regulations D4 COMMENCEMENT E. THE FITNESS TO PRACTISE REGULATIONS E1 APPLICATION E2 THE REGULATIONS E3 INTERPRETATION E4 COMMENCEMENT F. INTERVENTIONS AND DIVESTITURE F1 INTERVENTIONS F2 DIVESTITURE 2 Part V: Enforcement Regulations Section A: The Complaints Regulations A1: Powers and Functions of the PCC A THE COMPLAINTS REGULATIONS A1 Powers and Functions of the PCC 1. The membership of the PCC shall be as prescribed by the Standing Orders of the Bar Standards Board from time
    [Show full text]
  • The Beginning, Flourishing and Decline of the Inns of Court: the Consolidation of the English Legal Profession After 1400
    Vanderbilt Law Review Volume 10 Issue 1 Issue 1 - December 1956 Article 3 12-1956 The Beginning, Flourishing and Decline of the Inns of Court: The Consolidation of the English Legal Profession after 1400 Anton Hermann Chroust Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr Part of the Legal Profession Commons Recommended Citation Anton Hermann Chroust, The Beginning, Flourishing and Decline of the Inns of Court: The Consolidation of the English Legal Profession after 1400, 10 Vanderbilt Law Review 79 (1956) Available at: https://scholarship.law.vanderbilt.edu/vlr/vol10/iss1/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Vanderbilt Law Review by an authorized editor of Scholarship@Vanderbilt Law. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE BEGINNING, FLOURISHING AND DECLINE OF THE INNS OF COURT: THE CONSOLIDATION OF THE ENGLISH LEGAL PROFESSION AFTER 1400 ANTON-HERMANN CHROUST* Wherever the common law is studied and practiced [the Inns of Court] must be regarded as the original fountainhead of the law, toward which the true lawyer must feel as a Jew does toward Jerusalem and a Mus- sulman towards Mecca. The four Inns of Court-Lincoln's Inn, Gray's Inn, the Middle Tem- ple and the Inner Temple-may well be called one single legal univer- sity composed of four relatively independent colleges. In their long and illustrious history these Inns have discharged important func- tions in the domains of legal education and professional discipline. As the depository of splendid professional traditions which date back to the Middle Ages, they were for a long time the guardian as well as the gateway to the higher English Bar.
    [Show full text]
  • Black Letter Law 2006
    Black Letter Law The presence of black and ethnic minorities in the legal profession A CRE/BLD publication for Black History Month Introductions Contents The idea to do this booklet came from Debo Nwauzu, Director of the Black Legal history 11 Rabinder Singh QC Lawyers Directory (BLD). The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) 2 Ganendra Mohan Tagore 11 District Judge Ray Singh agreed to undertake this project thinking that it would be fairly simple to 2 Alexander Kennedy 12 Keith Vaz MP get the information from the Law Society and the Bar Council and put it all 2 Thomas Morris Chester 12 Thelma Stober together. But this has not been very easy. We approached the Law Society 3 Aviet Agabeg 13 Shami Chakrabarti and the Bar Council for their assistance in researching their records - they 3 Christian Frederick Cole 14 Courtenay Griffiths QC have been very helpful in making extensive enquiries - however, neither 3 Mahatma Ghandi 14 Anesta Weekes QC organisation had much information that was relevant. 4 Muhammad Jinnah 15 Sadiq Khan MP This lack of information is significant and reflects that until fairly 4 Jawaharlal Nehru 16 District Judge Shamim recently these organisations did not collect monitoring data on their 5 Cornelia Sorabji Qureshi members. This problem also illustrates how important it is to undertake 16 David Lammy MP monitoring. Legal history in the making 17 Icah Peart QC This is a work in progress. We hope to build on this publication in future 6 Nelson Mandela 17 Trevor Faure years so that there is a more detailed chronicle of black and minority ethnic 6 Dr John Roberts QC 17 Gifty Edila (BME) individuals in the legal profession who are or were in the vanguard 7 Baroness Patricia Scotland 18 Chris Boothman of the struggle to make the profession more diverse and representative.
    [Show full text]
  • Temple Church, Temple Inn, and Templeman
    Tulsa Law Review Volume 25 Issue 2 Winter 1989 Temple Church, Temple Inn, and Templeman Lord Templeman Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/tlr Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Lord Templeman, Temple Church, Temple Inn, and Templeman , 25 Tulsa L. J. 349 (2013). Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.utulsa.edu/tlr/vol25/iss2/6 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by TU Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Tulsa Law Review by an authorized editor of TU Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Templeman: Temple Church, Temple Inn, and Templeman FORUM TEMPLE CHURCH, TEMPLE INN, AND TEMPLEMAN* The Right Honourable Lord Templemant The origin of the English common law lies in the fact, which persists at the present day, that the English are incapable of learning a foreign language. Contrary to popular belief, the English have been conquered on three occasions. They were conquered by the Romans who intro- duced Roman law; but, as the English never learned to speak Latin, they never became proficient in Roman law. Next, the English were con- quered by the Normans who introduced the continental civil law; but, as the English never learned to speak French, they never became proficient in the civil law. Finally, the English were conquered by the Americans; but, as the English never learned to speak the language of the United States, they have been unable to understand either the Bill of Rights or the Restatement. So the English were driven to invent their own law.
    [Show full text]
  • The Disappearance of the Educational System of the Inns of Court
    University of Pennsylvania Law Review And American Law Register FOUNDED 1852 Published Quarterly. November to June, by the University of Pennsylvania Law School, at 8 West =ing Street, Lancaster, Pa., and 34th and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pa. VOLUME 69 MARCH, 1921. NUMBER 3. THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE INNS OF COURT. The history of the decline and fall of the educational system of the Inns of Court falls into three periods: (i) the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries; (ii) the Commonwealth period; and (iii) the latter part of the seventeenth century. (i) The late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. That we must date the beginnings of the decline of the educational system of the Inns of Court from the latter half of the sixteenth century is reasonably clear from a compari- son of two sets of Judges' Orders issued in 15571 and 15912 respectively. In the first of these sets of Orders it is provided inter alia that moot cases in the vacation shall not contain more than two arguable points, and that none of the Bench are to argue more than two points.3 We gather from this that the Reader's cases had been too full of arguable points, and that the Benchers engrossed all the argument. This clearly points to such excessive zeal on the part of Readers and Benchers that the moots were not so instructive to the students as they might have been. The second set of Orders tells a very different tale. "Whereas," it runs, "the Read- ings in Houses of Court have time out of mind continued 1Dugdale, Orig.
    [Show full text]
  • In the Slow Growth of Centuries, While The
    VOL. XV NOVEMBER, 1937 No. 9 T E 113HS ®F COURT. In the slow growth of centuries, while the British Constitu- - tion was being evolved under the guiding genius of British statesmanship, the profession of the law in England came into being and grew to full stature by similar almost imperceptible stages of development, and is now represented by what we all- know as the HQ.nourable Societies of the Inner Temple, Middle Temple, Lincoln's Inn and Gray's Inn-the four Inns of Court. The history of the Inns of Court, whose origins are only dimly discernible in the mists of antiquity, is really the history of the administration of British Justice: Sir Frederick Pollock has defined the Inns of Court as "A survival of medieval republican oligarchy, the purest, I should think, to be found in Europe". (50 L.Q.I . 304) Clustered together in the heart of London and occupying a site, bounded on one side, to the East by the old City of London; to the West, by the City of Westminster; on the South, by the River Thames, and on the North, by Holborn, stand now the imposing structures of these four great Institutions, referred to by Sir William Blackstone as "Our Judicial University". Much, if not all, of the ancient splendour and ceremony of these Associations of the law has- vanished, but they remain today, great in their traditions, the dignified pillars of- the British judicial system. It is true that British Barristers do not now dance in the ancient -halls of the Inns of Court.
    [Show full text]
  • The Temple and the Inns of Court
    Washington University Law Review Volume 2 Issue 1 January 1917 The Temple and the Inns of Court James Love Hopkins Esq. Follow this and additional works at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation James Love Hopkins, The Temple and the Inns of Court, 2 ST. LOUIS L. REV. 001 (1917). Available at: https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/law_lawreview/vol2/iss1/1 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law School at Washington University Open Scholarship. It has been accepted for inclusion in Washington University Law Review by an authorized administrator of Washington University Open Scholarship. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ST. LOUIS LAW REVIEW Vol. II PublishedWashington by theUniversity Undergraduates Law School of the No. 1 THE TEMPLE AND THE INNS OF COURT. The American lawyer who can view the Inns of Court and the Temple unmoved by stirring and often half-forgotten memories, has no need for foreign travel. In these surroundings the steady roar of the world's greatest city cannot divert the mind trained to an appre- ciation of the common law from the inspiration given to tower and casement and tomb-slabs and paving stones by the generations of lawyers who here have studied and worked in the gladsome light of jurisprudence. So alluring a trail of thought, running back to the very shadows of the middle ages, can be inspired in the mind of the English-speaking lawyer nowhere else, even amidst the ruins of ancient Rome, where were the beginnings of the earlier civil law.
    [Show full text]