Barristers' professional indemnity insurance

As and from 1^st May 1990 all members of the Law Library will be required to have Professional Indemnity Insurance for a minimum prescribed amount, initially to be a minimum of £100,000.

The Code of Conduct for the Bar of Ireland has been amended accordingly, by the insertion of a new paragraph (numbered 2.13) as follows:

"Every practising barrister is obliged to have professional indemnity insurance for a minimum amount, which amount shall be prescribed from time to time by the Bar Council. It shall be professional misconduct for any barrister who is not so insured to advise on the law, draft legal documents or pleadings, or act as an advocate, for a fee.

The scheme for professional insurance arranged by the Bar Council shall not be available for those who are not members of the Law Library. Those who are not members of the Law Library and who intend to practise must satisfy the Bar Council that they have appropriate insurance in force".

*With reference to the second paragraph, virtually all practising barristers, whether Dublin-based or on Circuit, are members of the Law Library and therefore will be part of this new compulsory insurance scheme. All barristers listed in the Society's 1990 Law Directory are (as of November 1989) members of the Law Library.