Neuberger endorses accreditation scheme
The master of the rolls has given judicial backing to the proposed quality assurance for advocates (QAA) scheme, saying judges are the ‘ultimate consumers’ of advocacy services and are well placed to assess quality.
Speaking at the Bar Council’s annual conference, Lord Neuberger defended the proposal for judicial evaluation in the QAA scheme for criminal advocates.
He said quality advocacy is essential to the proper administration of justice, and that without it the adversarial system could not operate efficiently, effectively or fairly.
‘It should be entirely unsurprising then that judges strongly support the quality assurance scheme and judicial involvement in the assessment process,’ he said. ‘Judges are the ultimate consumers of advocacy services. They are supplied with those services every day and are well placed to tell which advocates are good and which are not. As such, they are essential to the quality assurance process.’
Last month, the Solicitors Association of Higher Court Advocates (SAHCA) expressed concern about the ‘over-reliance’ on judicial evaluation, pointing out that judges have historically demonstrated a bias towards the bar. However, Neuberger said any bias was ‘unacceptable’ and had no place in such a scheme.
It makes fascinating reading.
Look at tweets direct from timeline of @Emmersonslaw (You may have to scroll down if Emmersonslaw has tweeted subsequent to you reading this post)
Hat Tip to Michael Robinson for giving us all a flavour of discussion at what is a very important issue for advocates..
