Bar training > Barristers and pupils

Anti-bullying and harassment training for barristers and pupils.

Built for self-employed members regulated by the BSB. Aligned with the Harman Review, the Commissioner for Conduct protocols and the Bar Council Toolkit.
120 minutes of verifiable CPD in Comprehensive Programme
Includes BSB Core Duties & Conduct Rules
Includes Bar Council Toolkit training elements
Personal liabilities clearly explained

Written for the regulated Bar.

Barristers and pupils answer to the BSB. A finding of bullying or harassment can trigger a BSB investigation, disciplinary action and lasting damage to a practice and a future judicial career. This programme covers those obligations and consequences directly, with barrister-specific examples across every topic.

This programme is written for the regulated Bar, not adapted from a generic course.

Choose your level.

Recommended

Comprehensive

£180 plus VAT

Per person
£150 plus VAT for 100 or more licenses
120 minutes | Verifiable CPD | Six modules
For a deeper command of the regulatory, contractual and behavioural obligations, extended scenarios, and the full account of personal liability.

Foundation

£70 plus VAT

Per person
45 minutes | No CPD
For fast, essential awareness that meets the baseline knowledge requiremenst quickly.
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Buying for staff too? Add the staff programme to the same cart and check out once

What does the Comprehensive Programme cover?

Six modules, 120 minutes, tailored throughout for barristers and pupils.

Module 1. Introduction (5 minutes)

  • Context: the culture of silence, untouchable perpetrators, fear of career damage and retaliation, low confidence in the complaints process.
  • Correcting myths on how the Equality Act and the Protection from Harassment Act apply.
  • The Harman Review and the Bar Council, BSB and judicial response: changing the culture of the Bar.
  • Flexible learning and module timings.

Module 2. Regulatory Safeguards (20 minutes)

  • The Commissioner for Conduct, role explained.
  • Talk to Spot: engaging the Commissioner, with a demonstration.
  • Talk to Spot's four-step process.
  • How the Commissioner decides whether behaviour is serious misconduct.
  • Who acts on your report.
  • What else your Spot record can do.
  • Conduct Rule changes: target and confidant exemptions, the revised third-party threshold, a second approved reporting route, the new definition of bullying.
  • Bar Council helpline and support services explained.
  • The BSB duty to report, including self-reporting.
  • Live links to the BSB Handbook, the Equality Rules and the Reporting Serious Misconduct Guidance.

  • BSB Core Duties and Conduct Rules on bullying and harassment.
  • The BSB direct reporting portal, with a demonstration.
  • The Victim Support helpline shown.
  • The informal reporting pathway to the Commissioner for Conduct or a senior member of the Bar, and the JCIO portal for concerns about judicial behaviour.
  • Learning summary and quiz.

Module 3. Regulatory Safeguards (20 minutes)

  • Your contractual obligations: chambers constitution, tenancy and pupillage agreement, policies.
  • Standards of behaviour, expressed and implied.
  • Below-threshold behaviour: Bar Council Toolkit examples.
  • Chambers behaviour, equality and inclusion policies, per Bar Council recommendations.
  • Other policy areas: social media, IT, confidentiality, GDPR, intimate relationships.
  • What behaviour you can expect from others.
  • The Core Duties and Conduct Rules on bullying and harassment.
  • Learning summary and quiz.

Module 4. Regulatory Safeguards (20 minutes)

  • The definitions of bullying.
  • Where and when bullying happens at the Bar.
  • How bullying happens.
  • Types of bullying, with Bar-specific examples for barristers and pupils.
  • Common excuses and cultural defences, and how to respond to them.
  • Who is responsible for eliminating bullying, tailored for barristers and pupils.
  • Core Duties and Conduct Rules, a reminder, including when reporting is needed.
  • Handling bullying if it happens to you: what to say, internal help, evidence, support, and the informal and formal reporting pathways.
  • Being an active bystander, zero tolerance, the five Ds, and the bystander duty to report serious misconduct.
  • Professional consequences of a bullying finding, including BSB investigation and disciplinary action, chambers action, and risk to practice and a future judicial career.
  • The benefits of calling out bullying.
  • Learning summary and quiz.

Module 5. Regulatory Safeguards (20 minutes)

  • How unlawful harassment related to a protected characteristic fits into discrimination.
  • The definition you need to know.
  • The seven protected characteristics.
  • What counts as unwanted conduct.
  • What "related to" means.
  • Purpose and effect.
  • Bar-specific visual examples of each protected characteristic.
  • Victimisation explained.
  • The detriments you might see at the Bar, tailored for barristers and pupils.
  • Barrister and pupil visual examples of unlawful harassment, victimisation and detriments.
  • Handling unlawful harassment if it happens to you.
  • Judicial harassment: informal and formal pathways.
  • Third-party harassment: Bar Council Toolkit guidance, how to handle it, what to say, support, evidence and all pathways.
  • Being an active bystander, a reminder.
  • The professional and career consequences for a barrister or pupil alleged or found to have unlawfully harassed someone.
  • Learning summary and quiz.

Module 6. Regulatory Safeguards (20 minutes)

  • How sexual harassment fits into discrimination.
  • What sexual harassment is.
  • What "less favourable treatment" means.
  • Less favourable treatment must relate to gender reassignment or sex, but conduct of a sexual nature does not have to relate to any protected characteristic.
  • Unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, with examples.
  • Victimisation, a reminder, and the barrister and pupil detriments you might see at the Bar.
  • Barrister and pupil visual examples of sexual harassment, less favourable treatment, victimisation and detriments.
  • Handling sexual harassment if it happens to you.
  • Third-party harassment: how to handle it, including your professional reporting responsibilities.
  • Being an active bystander, a reminder.
  • The professional and career consequences for a barrister or pupil alleged or found to have sexually harassed someone.
  • Sexual harassment as a hate crime.
  • Learning summary and quiz.

What does the Foundation Programme cover?

Foundation covers the same topics as Comprehensive in less depth. It's 40 to 45 minutes long and it does not include CPD hours.
  • Bar context and the Harman Review.
  • Regulatory safeguards and reporting routes: the Commissioner for Conduct, Talk to Spot, the reporting thresholds and exemptions, judicial conduct reporting, and general reference to the BSB rules.
  • Behavioural standards and policies: your contractual sources, the named Bar Council policies, and the further policy areas.
  • The law in essence: definitions of bullying, harassment and sexual harassment, the core legal tests summarised, key Bar examples, third-party harassment and hate crime.
  • Practical skills: being an active bystander and the five Ds, and the consequences of a finding against you.

How the training works.

  • Self-paced online video.
  • Interactive knowledge checks and quizzes.
  • A personal login to a secure platform.
  • A dashboard showing progress and completion.
  • Start, pause and resume at any time.
  • A time-stamped completion certificate.
  • 120 minutes of qualifying CPD for practising barristers on the Comprehensive Programme.

Built by experts in bullying and harassment.

Julia Gidney, Founder, Wdidi

Founder Julia Gidney is a former leading employment law Partner at top UK firms and Group Head of People and Compliance for major international organisations, with more than 30 years front-line experience. Julia leads all Wdidi content and brings in recognised Bar experts to validate it.

Common questions.

How much CPD does the Comprehensive Programme provide?

The Comprehensive Programme carries 120 minutes of verifiable CPD for practising barristers. The Foundation Programme carries no CPD.

Why do barristers need training separate from chambers staff?

Barristers and pupils are self-employed and regulated directly by the BSB. A finding against you can trigger a BSB investigation and disciplinary action, with consequences for your practice and any future judicial career. This programme covers those obligations directly, with barrister-specific examples throughout.

How is this different from the Bar Council's own course?

This programme goes further than general awareness. It covers the Commissioner for Conduct's multi-factor test for serious misconduct in full, extended multi-incident scenarios, and the reporting routes and Conduct Rule changes that apply specifically to barristers and pupils.

Is the training kept up to date as the rules change?

Yes. Content is reviewed as the BSB Handbook, the Conduct Rules and the Bar Council Toolkit are updated, so the programme reflects the current rules.

Enrol your barristers and pupils.

Training staff as well? See the programme for chambers employees and workers.

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