New Bar chairperson to promote integrity and fight "lazy journalism"

updated on 03 January 2013

The new chairperson of the Bar Council, Maura McGowan QC, has set out her vision for the Bar's future in her inaugural address.

McGowan succeeded Michael Todd QC on 1 January to become the Bar Council's first female chairperson since Lady Justice Hallett in 1998. In her speech, McGowan said that the "main focus" of her role is to ensure that the Bar's integrity remains respected. A crucial element in achieving this will be the promotion of the universal access to justice on which McGowan believes the rule of law depends.

McGowan also spoke of the Bar's need to communicate more effectively with the public, claiming that negative media coverage of the legal profession often stems from cynical politicians and distorts public perception of the vital services that barristers provide.

Exhorting her colleagues to take control of their profession's future, McGowan said: "We have to maintain our standards; we must continue to strive to be excellent and to place integrity at the top of our list of our qualities and qualifications. By engaging and offering constructive proposals, we can properly establish ourselves as authors of change, not its victims."