The Supreme Court

A practitioner who is a member of the Bar of Ireland (i.e. The Law Library) and who wishes to be called to the Bar of Northern Ireland is required to, amongst other things, produce a Certificate of Good Standing in support of his or her application.

Until 29^th September 2020, the Chief Justice certified the good standing of Irish barristers making such applications based on information received from the Council of The Bar of Ireland.

Following the undertaking of a review and in light of a reciprocal agreement entered into with the Bar of Northern Ireland, the Chief Justice has put in place the following procedure that will apply to all applications for Call to the Bar of Northern Ireland received by the Office of Chief Justice from practitioners, irrespective of whether they are members of the Law Library or not.

This procedure took effect on 24^th March 2021 and was updated on 15^th March 2023 & 1^st September 2025 respectively to reflect clarification received by the Office that those wishing to be called to the Bar of England and Wales & other jurisdictions, with the exception of Northern Ireland, do not require a Certificate of Good Standing from the Chief Justice and may submit a letter from The Council of The Bar of Ireland, the Legal Services Regulatory Authority or the Honorable Society of King’s Inns as appropriate.

Queries in relation to this procedure can be emailed to [email protected]

 Office of the Chief Justice

1st September 2025

At the outset it is important to note that the granting of Certificates of Good Standing/of Good Counsel are entirely at the discretion of the Chief Justice, in the exercise of their inherent power.

• Practitioners requesting a Certificate of Good Standing from the Chief Justice of Ireland to be called to the Bar of Northern Ireland are now required to submit their application, in writing, either by post or by email. Applications submitted by email may be sent to [email protected] titled ‘Application for Certificate of Good Standing’ in the subject line.

• The application is to be submitted in sufficient time but no later than 10 working days before the date for which the Certificate is to be provided to the applicant.

• An applicant who is a member of The Law Library is required to submit a Certificate of Good Standing from the Bar Council along with his or her application. An application will not be considered until such time as this Certificate is provided to the Office of the Chief Justice.

• An applicant who is not or is no longer a member of The Law Library at the date of the application is required to submit written confirmation from the Legal Services Regulatory Authority to the effect that the applicant has not been the subject of an adverse finding(s) of professional misconduct from the period between 7^th October 2019 to a date not exceeding one month from the date upon which the application is made. An application will not be considered until such time as this written confirmation from the Legal Services Regulatory Authority is provided to the Office of the Chief Justice.

• Requests falling outside the scope of the reciprocal agreement with the Bar of Northern Ireland, will be considered on a case-by-case basis and in support of such a request an applicant must provide documentation/correspondence/regulations from the relevant Bar/Regulatory Authority that specify that a Certificate of Good Standing is required from the Chief Justice.

• The applicant is responsible for ensuring compliance with the foregoing requirements and the Office of the Chief Justice bears no responsibility for any delays arising from any application submitted.