Evolution, Not Revolution

One of the most ‘radical’ of Lord Mackay's proposals in the recent Green Paper on the legal profession is to end the monopoly the Bar has on the right of audience in the High Court by the introduction of a new system of 'certificates of competence' for all advocates, opening up the courts to solicitors with the necessary ability. This, in effect, ends the major division which is peculiar to the profession in Britain and the Commonwealth.

The separation of the legal profession has an historical foundation. It came about through the evolution of professional advocacy in the first half of the fourteenth century. At that time audience in the common law courts was the exclusive right of barristers and senior advocates known as serjeants (serviente regis ad legem) who had the right of audience in the Court of Common Pleas.