The Bar Standards Board (BSB) is consulting on a proposed change to Core Duty 8, which currently says barristers “must not discriminate unlawfully against any person”.

The regulator also proposes to take a “more outcomes focused approach” to its equality rules, while retaining prescriptive requirements where necessary for transparency and accountability.

BSB director general Mark Neale said: “We want to ensure that the Bar is as inclusive as possible and that it is truly representative of the society it serves.

“Regulation alone cannot achieve that, but regulation can help by supporting barristers to challenge practices which work against diversity and inclusion.”

Sam Townend KC, chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales, said: “The Bar Council is deeply committed to supporting and improving equality, diversity and inclusion at the Bar. While much progress has been made — thanks to the work of individuals, chambers, Inns, Specialist Bar Associations and others — there is clearly much more to be done.

“Providing an effective regulatory framework on EDI is essential, and any regulations must be evidence-based and provide clarity to barristers and chambers. It is also essential that any proposals for change are compliant with the law and have adequately considered enforceability, otherwise important provisions to improve EDI could be meaningless.

“Much of the progress made on EDI in chambers is thanks to the voluntary work of EDOs (equality and diversity officers) and we are keen to make sure that any regulatory changes do not undermine that work. Radical change is certainly disruptive and may have unintended detrimental consequences.

“On the proposals to move to outcomes-based regulation we have previously raised concerns that this could pose significant challenges for the Bar and may be ineffective. We will need to consider whether the BSB’s proposals for outcomes-based EDI regulation sufficiently address the challenges we identified.

“It is clear that the proposals in the BSB’s consultation will affect the profession significantly and the Bar Council will scrutinise the consultation carefully. We encourage everyone at the Bar to do the same.”