High Court Rules Barristers Cannot Directly Accept Client Instructions In Litigation

In a recent judgment, the High Court restated a long-standing principle that barristers may not accept instructions directly from clients in litigation related matters. With certain exceptions, barristers in litigation matters must be briefed by a solicitor. The court took the opportunity to review the relevant codes, by which barristers were regulated and emphasised the source of the restriction upon barristers being directly briefed by the public. In the context of professional regulation, this judgment illustrates that the courts will analyse codes and rules, of particular professions, when necessary and will rely on such codes and rules to determine issues in disputes.