Education: 23 April 2020
King’s Inns Launches Consultation on Draft Statement of the Required Competencies of a Barrister
Consultation extended to 4.00pm on Monday, June 8, 2020.
King’s Inns invites you to submit feedback and participate in a short survey (max. 15 minutes) on the draft statement of competencies of a barrister.
Draft statement of competencies
The Statement is comprised of four categories:
- Legal knowledge;
- Legal skills;
- Professional competencies;
- Personal attributes.
The competencies within each of these four categories, when combined, represent the competencies required of a barrister.
The benefit of having a statement of competencies is that it will allow King’s Inns to map those competencies against what we currently teach and assess on the Barrister–at–Law degree course. It will also help King’s Inns to identify any gaps and ensure that we are placing the emphasis on the key skills and knowledge that a barrister requires, particularly at the point at which they enter the profession.
How to submit your feedback
- By completing an online survey here. This survey is anonymous. OR
- By making a written submission to the following email address: competencies@kingsinns.ie.
The deadline for feedback submission or participating in the online survey is extended to 4.00pm on Monday, June 8, 2020.
What happens to my feedback
King’s Inns will consider all feedback and take it into consideration in finalising the statement prior to publication by King’s Inns.
Background to the draft statement
The Legal Services Regulatory Authority (“the LSRA”) is currently engaged in a review of legal education and training pursuant to section 34 of the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015. In the context of that review, the LSRA commissioned a report by the consultants Hook Tangaza.
The Hook Tangaza report made a number of far–reaching recommendations, one of which was that there ought to be clearly defined statements of the required competencies of legal professionals, both solicitors and barristers.
Arising from the Hook Tangaza report, King’s Inns has committed to the LSRA that we will draft a statement of the required competencies of a barrister (“the statement of competencies”), having engaged with relevant stakeholders.
As the first phase in drafting a statement of competencies, King’s Inns commissioned the leading market research and consultancy group Kantar to carry out in–depth interviews and focus groups with key stakeholders.
Kantar carried out their work in late 2019. They held five in–depth interviews with senior members of the judiciary from various courts. They also held eight focus groups with the following categories of stakeholders:
- Judges of the High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court;
- Circuit and District Court judges;
- Senior practising barristers;
- Barristers who take on newly qualified barristers as pupils;
- Junior barristers in years 3–7 of practice;
- Employed barristers;
- Solicitors practising in litigation;
- Barristers practising on Circuit outside Dublin.
About King’s Inns
Based between Henrietta Street and Constitution Hill in Dublin 1, The Honorable Society of King’s Inns is renowned for professional legal education and training in many areas of the law. As well as being the home to future and qualified barristers, The School reaches a broad community of people with non–legal backgrounds in offering a wide range of accessible part–time and online courses in specialist areas of the law.
With courses taught by expert law practitioners, King’s Inns professionally trains leaders, advocates, innovators and game–changers, working across many industries in Ireland and abroad. The School is also a centre of excellence in promoting the use of the Irish language in the law.