Former Victorian Supreme Court judge George Hampel has called for high-level compulsory training and assessment of all aspiring Australian barristers to improve the standard of representation for clients.

Hampel, who is now a law professor at Monash University, said there was evidence that some barristers were falling below an acceptable standard:  “Judges are constantly reporting cases of barristers showing insufficient preparation, legal research, knowledge of basic case law, legislation and advocacy skills. Ultimately the people who suffer are clients, who face a serious risk of injustice.”

Hampel said that in other professions, such shortcomings would be regarded as negligence:  “Barristers enjoy immunity from negligence claims for their work in court. This further emphasises the need for training and rigorous assessment.”

While there are mandatory courses for barristers in most states, Hampel said that these courses frequently did not entail an assessment of what the aspiring advocate was supposed to have learnt during the course. He said that the assessments which did exist were generally not rigorous enough for ensuring basic competence.