Making a Service Complaint

Making a Service Complaint About the Professional Service Provided to You by your Barrister

Please refer to the Detailed Guidance on the Service Complaints process and our Complaint Handling Plan.

Service complaints are about the quality of the service you feel you have received from a barrister who has been instructed on your behalf.

Some Examples of Service Complaints include:

The Service Complaint procedure exists to try to resolve eligible complaints and therefore you will be asked from the outset to supply your reasonable suggestion as to how resolution can be achieved.

• Work not being performed to the scope and standard that had been agreed and which was therefore proven to be incomplete, inaccurate or erroneous.
• Significant delay in meeting an agreed deadline for work to be performed where no reasonable grounds or explanation was provided for the work taking longer than expected.
• Failure to attend court or a meeting without giving notice, making suitable alternative arrangements or providing an adequate explanation.
• Poor and inadequate information – where you should reasonably have expected to receive important information but it was not provided on time or to the required standard.

Click here to view a short video on service complaints.

Who Can Make a Service Complaint:

A complaint of this type can only be brought by the individual or person who received the services to which the complaint relates. They may have received these services either directly from the barrister in question or via a specific solicitor who procured the services on their behalf.

Who Your Complaint Must Relate To:

You can make a Service Complaint about a barrister if they provided the services you wish to complain about to you either directly or via a specific solicitor who instructed the barrister on your behalf.

Service complaints cannot be made about a barrister who was not instructed to represent you.

We also do not accept service complaints against solicitors, members of the judiciary, police, social workers or the Court Service or about a barrister who does/did not represent you, e.g. the barrister acting for the other party in your case.

When Your Complaint Must Be Made:

All complaints must be received within six months of the matter complained of or where you are complaining about a continuing issue, the last date when it occurred.

If a complaint is made after the period prescribed the relevant committee will have a discretion to consider the complaint if it is satisfied, from the information contained in the complaint form that there were valid exceptional circumstances for the delay. Exceptional Circumstances might include:

• Medical conditions or Serious Illness
• Unforeseen circumstances

How You Must Submit Your Complaint

Your complaint must be submitted in the relevant form and, amongst the information that must be provided, the form must clearly identify:

When submitting your form you must also provide a full name, address, contact details and a signature.

• the barrister who the complaint is against
• the solicitor who engaged the services of the barrister
• the service that the barrister provided to you

Please refer to the Detailed Guidance on the Service Complaints process and our Complaint Handling Plan.