Copy of Principles of Fair Recruitment

The Bar Council has identified the following four principles as the guiding principles for fair recruitment at the Bar: reliability, validity, objectivity and transparency. These principles apply at every stage of the recruitment process.

i. Reliability:

Reliability requires consistency of results from year to year, irrespective of who is the assessor.

Example: a chambers requires pupils to undergo a series of written and oral assessments as part of the final tenancy decision. These are set and marked by different members of chambers, producing divergent scores within each cohort, and from year to year. The chambers should consider whether the assessment methods are reliable and whether steps could be taken to improve their reliability.

ii. Validity

Validity is about the fit of the assessment method to the selection criteria. Given that different assessment methods are more effective at testing different skills, a combination of assessment methods will likely be needed.

Example: a chambers decides to use a standardised aptitude test as part of its recruitment process for new clerks. However, the chambers has not considered how this test assesses performance against the selection criteria for new clerks. This assessment method may not produce valid results.

iii. Objectivity

Objectivity requires that recruitment processes, selection methods, and decision-making are unbiased and non-discriminatory. This may involve taking some of the steps identified in Part A in relation to avoiding unconscious bias, as well as steps to ensure consistency in the process.

Example: a chambers conducts an oral advocacy exercise as part of the selection process for new pupils. An objective approach would require that all candidates have the same preparation time in standardised conditions, subject to the requirement to make reasonable adjustments.

iv. Transparency

Transparency in recruitment concerns how easily information about the process is accessible to prospective applicants.[1] Indeed, the Bar Council advises that transparency is part of the duty under the Authorisations Framework on Authorised Education and Training Organisations (‘AETOs’), which include chambers taking pupils, to have ‘[p]olicies and procedures demonstrating [their] commitment to promoting open and fair recruitment’.

Example: a chambers provides all candidates for pupillage information about the selection criteria and the assessment process (for example, the number and nature of any assessments or interviews) in the advertisement on Pupillage Gateway.

These principles – alongside the legal and regulatory requirements set out in Part A – are relevant to every type of recruitment exercise conducted by chambers and BSB entities.