Bar Standards Board was unfair

McCarthy v Visitors to the Inns of Court and another [2013] EWHC 3253 (Admin), [2013] All ER (D) 310 (Oct); NLJ 8 November

The claimant barrister was found guilty of producing forged documents and was subsequently disbarred. The defendant Visitors to the Inns of Court (the visitors) upheld that decision. The claimant sought judicial review on the ground that the Bar Standards Board (BSB) had failed to disclose a draft witness statement. The Administrative Court, in dismissing the application, held that the BSB had been obliged to serve the draft and its failure to do so had led unfairness in the approach of the visitors. However, the decision would not be quashed because there had been no real possibility of any alternative result.