Bar Council to provide barristers with online anti-harassment and bullying tool
updated on 20 September 2019
The Bar Council has partnered with tech company Spot to launch an anti-harassment and bullying tool for barristers to anonymously report inappropriate behaviour.
The Talk to Spot app will be available to barristers this autumn. It is designed to enable barristers to quickly and easily record instances of inappropriate behaviour at work. The report can then be sent to the barrister’s chambers, employer, the Bar Council and/or other bodies, or, as the Bar Council puts it, “save the report for their own reference”.
Harassment, bullying and discrimination remain underreported across many industries.
Richard Atkins QC, chair of the Bar Council, said: "Although barristers wear wigs and gowns in court, it should not for a moment be thought that the Bar does not embrace technology. Paper is disappearing from our courts, with most members of the Bar using laptops rather than carrying large paper bundles wrapped in pink ribbon. The Bar Council has led the way with the development of an ID card app for mobile phones which allows members of the Bar to gain easier entry to the Courts and a move to electronic voting as of September 2019. The Talk to Spot app is another innovative use of technology which will allow Barristers to report any inappropriate behaviour they experience, quickly and anonymously."
