The legal profession in Northern Ireland is divided into two distinct branches, the Bar (which comprises barristers) and the Law Society of Northern Ireland (which comprises solicitors).
Barristers specialise in providing legal advice and in courtroom advocacy within all Courts in Northern Ireland and, occasionally, in other jurisdictions. Increasingly barristers are retained to represent their client’s case outside the conventional courtroom setting such as within the framework of alternative dispute resolution, arbitrations, tribunals, disciplinary hearings and a broad spectrum of public and private inquiries.
As the law has become more complex, barristers increasingly specialise in particular areas of work thus meeting the particular needs of individual clients.
For many years barristers have represented people in the highest courts in Northern Ireland and the Bar continues to be a strong, effective and thriving profession offering high quality advice and advocacy to meet an ever changing social and commercial environment and the professional needs of the individual client.
Independence goes to the essence of professionalism and reputation of the barrister. Every barrister is entirely independent and in that capacity is engaged as an advocate and legal specialist on behalf of the client. Training, experience, continuing professional development and access to modern research technology and state of the art facilities provided by the Bar Library system promote and protect the expertise of barristers in striving to offer to the client the best of quality of service. Moreover a number of Specialist Bar Associations exist to provide support, additional training and representation for their members.
The usual route of engagement of a barrister is through a solicitor and you should discuss with your solicitor whether it is important to have a barrister's advice or the benefit of his or her expertise in the conduct of your case. Solicitors have good working relationships with barristers and are likely to know or be able to find out the most suitable barrister to deal with your case.
In addition the Bar Council operates a scheme allowing licensed access to barristers known as Direct Professional Access. This scheme is particularly suitable for organisations with knowledge and expertise in a particular area of law.
Lord Denning in 1966 identified the duties of a Barrister in the following way:
"A barrister cannot pick and choose his clients. He is bound to accept a brief for any man who comes before the Courts. No matter how great a rascal the man may be. No matter how given to complaining. No matter how undeserving or unpopular his cause. The barrister must defend him to the end. Provided only that he is paid a proper fee.... he must accept the brief and do all he honourably can on behalf of his client. I say all he honourably can because his duty is not only to his client. He has the duty to the Court which is paramount. It is a mistake to suppose that he is a mouthpiece of his client to say what he wants: or his tool to do what he directs. He is none of these things. He owes an allegiance to a higher cause. It is a cause of justice and truth. He must not consciously misstate the facts. He must not knowingly conceal the truth. He must not unjustly make a charge of fraud, that is without evidence to support it. He must produce all the relevant authorities, even those that are against him. He must see that his client discloses, if ordered, the relevant documents, even though that are fatal to his case. He must disregard the most specific instructions of his client, if they conflict with his duty to the Court. The Code which requires a barrister to do all this is not a code of law. It is a code of honour. If he breaks it he is offending against the rules of his profession and is subject to his discipline".
Lord Hobhouse in the House of Lords more recently discussed the role of the Advocate in Medcalf v. Weatherall and Anor [2003] 1 AC 120 at paragraph 52:
"It follows that the willingness of professional advocates to represent litigants should not be undermined either by creating conflicts of interest or by exposing the advocates to pressures which will tend to deter them from representing certain clients or from doing so effectively. In England the professional rule that a barrister must be prepared to represent any client within his field of practice and competence and the principles of professional independence underwrite in a manner too often taken for granted this constitutional safeguard. Unpopular and seemingly unmeritorious litigants must be capable of being represented without the advocate being penalised or harassed whether by the Executive, the Judiciary or by anyone else. Similarly, situations must be avoided where the advocate's conduct of a case is influenced not by his duty to his client but by concerns about his own self-interest."