Regulatory, privacy & GDPR information

Regulatory Information

As a barrister providing direct access or public access service I am subject to regulatory obligations that are overseen by the Bar Standards Board (BSB). These ensure you get a high standard of service and are properly protected. Direct Access barristers are required to be insured for the work they do and have strict rules about what work we can cannot do when acting for members of the public.

A barrister is someone who has been Called to the Bar of England and Wales, and to become a barrister you have to complete a rigorous process of training involving academic, vocational and work-based components. People who have not completed the final vocational stage of their training but have been called to the Bar after completing the academic course can call themselves a barrister but they cannot offer protected legal services if they do not have a practising certificate from the BSB. There are only between 17,000 – 18,000 certified practising barristers in England & Wales (compared to c.158,000 practising, regulated solicitors).

When acting as Public Access or Direct Access barrister I am regulated by the Bar Standards Board. My registration can be found at: James Johnston barrister.

To perform Direct Access work a registered barrister must then undertake further training and have specific insurance to offer Public Access services. For more information on Direct Access barristers from the Bar Council go to: Direct Access Portal.

Unlike services provided by McKenzie Friends and other county court advocates who are not fully-qualified, you have protection should anything go wrong when using a Public Access barrister. For further information about the BSB complaints process go to: BSB complaints

I am insured for Direct Access work through Bar Mutual whose details can be found here: BarMutual.co.uk

I am registered for VAT and my VAT number is 278456261

GDPR and data protection

Any information provided will remain confidential and will only be disclosed to someone else with your clear, informed consent or if compelled to by law. Only relevant information will be taken and it will be retained only for as long as is necessary. It will be stored securely, in accordance with the requirements of GDPR. For the purposes of GDPR and in work as a Direct Access Barrister I (Jamie Johnston) am the data controller for information collected in the course of Direct Access instructions. I am registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ref: ZA233008).

Full Privacy & GDPR statement

Privacy Notice – General Information Protection Regulation (“GDPR”)

Please read the following information carefully. This privacy notice contains information about the information collected, stored and otherwise processed about you and the reasons for the processing. It also tells you who I shares this information with, the security mechanisms I has put in place to protect your information and how to contact I in the event you need further information.

Who Am I?

James (Jamie) Johnston practises as a self-employed barrister, regulated by the Bar Standards Board.  In my capacity as a Direct Access barrister I collect, use and am responsible for personal information about you. When I do this I am the ‘controller’ of this information for the purposes of the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018.

If you need to contact me about your information or the processing carried out you can use the contact details at the end of this document.

What do I do with your information?

I collect some or all of the following personal information that you provide:

• a. Personal details
• b. Family details
• c. Lifestyle and social circumstances
• d. Goods and services
• e. Financial details
• f. Education, training and employment details
• g. Physical or mental health details
• h. Racial or ethnic origin
• i. Political opinions
• j. Religious, philosophical or other beliefs
• k. Trade union membership
• l. Sexual orientation
• m. Genetic information
• n. Biometric information for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person
• o. Criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences, or related security measures
• p. Other personal information relevant to instructions to provide legal services, including information specific to the instructions in question.

Information collected from other sources.

The same categories of information may also be obtained from third parties, such as, experts, members of the public, your family and friends, witnesses, courts and other tribunals, suppliers of goods and services, investigators, government departments, regulators, public records and registers.

How I uses your personal information:

Purposes

I may use your personal information for the following purposes:

1. For the conduct of any legal proceedings you may instruct me, whether proceedings being considered or underway or both 
2. To fulfil equality and diversity and other regulatory requirements
3. To procure goods and services
4. To publish legal judgments and decisions of courts and tribunals
5. To respond to potential complaints or make complaints
6. To carry out anti-money laundering and terrorist financing checks
7. To promote and market my services – but only with your express permission
8. As otherwise required or permitted by law.

Marketing and promotion

In relation to personal information collected for marketing purposes, the personal information consists of:

• Names, contact details, and name of organisation
• The nature of your interest in my marketing

This will be processed so that you can be provided with information about me and the services I provide.

You may contact me using the contact details at the end of this document if you no longer wish to receive such invitations or information.

The legal basis for processing your personal information

I rely on the following as the lawful bases to collect and use your personal information:

• If you have consented to the processing of your personal information, then I may process your information for the Purposes set out above to the extent to which you have consented to me doing so.
• In relation to information in categories (g) to (o) above (these being categories which are considered to include particularly sensitive information and which include information about criminal convictions or proceedings), I am entitled by law to process the information where the processing is necessary for legal proceedings, legal advice, or otherwise for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal rights.
• In relation to information which is not in categories (g) to (o) above, I rely on my legitimate interest and/or the legitimate interest of a third party in carrying out the processing for the Purposes set out above.
• In relation to information which is in categories (g) to (o) above (these being categories which include particularly sensitive information and which include information about criminal convictions or proceedings), I rely on your consent for any processing for the purposes set out in purposes (3) & (7) above.
• The processing is necessary for the purposes of performing or exercising obligations or rights which are imposed or conferred by law on me or you in connection with employment, social security or social protection.
• The processing is necessary for the assessment of your health or social care purposes.
• The processing of information in categories (g), (h), (j) and (l), is necessary for the purposes of identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity with a view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained.
• The processing is necessary to prevent or detect unlawful acts where it is in the substantial public interest and it must be carried out without consent so as not to prejudice those purposes.
• In certain circumstances processing may be necessary in order that I can comply with a legal obligation to which I am subject (including carrying out anti-money laundering or terrorist financing checks).

Who will I share your personal information with?

It may be necessary to share your information with the following:

• Information processors, such as IT support staff, email providers and information storage providers
• In the event of complaints, the Head of Dere Street Barristers, the Bar Standards Board and the Legal Ombudsman
• Other regulatory authorities
• Legal professionals
• Experts and other witnesses
• Prosecution authorities
• Courts and tribunals
• Trainee barristers who I am training
• Business associates, professional advisers and trade bodies, e.g. the Bar Council

I may be required to provide your information to regulators, such as the Bar Standards Board, the Financial Conduct Authority or the Information Commissioner’s Office. In the case of the Information Commissioner’s Office, there is a risk that your information may lawfully be disclosed by them for the purpose of any other civil or criminal proceedings, without my consent or your consent, which includes privileged information.

I may also be required to disclose your information to the police or intelligence services, where required or permitted by law.

Sources of information

The personal information I obtain may include information obtained from:

• Legal professionals
• Experts and other witnesses
• Prosecution authorities
• Courts and tribunals
• Trainee barristers
• Lay and professional clients of members of Dere Street Barristers
• Family and associates of the person whose personal information I am processing
• In the event of complaints, the Head of Dere Street Barristers and other members Dere Street Barristers who deal with complaints, the Bar Standards Board, and the Legal Ombudsman
• Other regulatory authorities
• Business associates, professional advisers and trade bodies, e.g. the Bar Council
• Data processors, such as IT support staff, email providers and data storage providers
• Public sources, such as the press, public registers and law reports.

Transfer of your information outside the European Economic Area (EEA)

This privacy notice is of general application and as such it is not possible to state whether it will be necessary to transfer your information out of the EEA in any particular case. However, if you reside outside the EEA or your case involves persons or organisations or courts and tribunals outside the EEA then it may be necessary to transfer some of your information to that country outside of the EEA for that purpose. If you are in a country outside the EEA or if the instructions you provide come from outside the EEA then it is inevitable that information will be transferred to those countries. If this applies to you and you wish additional precautions to be taken in respect of your information please indicate this when providing initial instructions.

If I decide to publish a judgment or other decision of a Court or Tribunal containing your information then this will be published to the world.

I will not otherwise transfer personal information outside the EEA except as necessary for the conduct of any legal proceedings.

If you would like any further information please use the contact details at the end of this document.

How long will I store your personal information?

I will normally store all your information:

• Until at least 1 year after the expiry of any relevant limitation period, from [for example, the date of the last provision of service or goods, the date of the last payment made or received or the date on which all outstanding payments are written off, whichever is the latest]. This is because it may be needed for potential legal proceedings. At this point any further retention will be reviewed and the information will be marked for deletion or marked for retention for a further period. The latter retention period is likely to occur only where the information is needed for legal proceedings, regulatory matters or active complaints. Deletion will be carried out as soon as reasonably practicable after the information is marked for deletion.
• Equality and diversity data may be retained for 7 years in pseudonymised form for the purpose of research and statistics and complying with regulatory obligations in relation to the reporting of equality and diversity data.
• Names and contact details held for marketing purposes will be stored indefinitely or until I become aware or am informed that the individual has ceased to be a potential client.

Consent

As explained above, I rely on your explicit consent to process your information in categories (g) to (o) above.  You have the right to withdraw this consent at any time, but this will not affect the lawfulness of any processing activity carried out prior to you withdrawing your consent. However, where I also rely on other bases for processing your information, you may not be able to prevent processing of your information.

If there is an issue with the processing of your information, please contact me using the contact details below.

Your Rights

Under the GDPR, you have a number of rights that you can exercise in certain circumstances. These are free of charge. In summary, you may have the right to:

• Ask for access to your personal information and other supplementary information;
• Ask for correction of mistakes in your information or to complete missing information I hold on you;
• Ask for your personal information to be erased, in certain circumstances;
• Receive a copy of the personal information you have provided to me or have this information sent to a third party. This will be provided to you or the third party in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, e.g. a Word file;
• Object at any time to processing of your personal information for direct marketing;
• Object in certain other situations to the continued processing of your personal information;
• Restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances;

If you want more information about your rights under the GDPR please see the Guidance from the Information Commissioners Office on Individual’s rights under the GDPR.

If you want to exercise any of these rights, please:

• Use the contact details at the end of this document;
• I may need to ask you to provide other information so that you can be identified;
• Please provide a contact address so that you can be contacted to request further information to verify your identity;
• Provide proof of your identity and address;
• State the right or rights that you wish to exercise.

I will respond to you within one month from when it receives your request.

How to make a complaint?

The GDPR also gives you the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioners’ Office if you are in the UK, or with the supervisory authority of the Member State where you work, normally live or where the alleged infringement of information protection laws occurred. The Information Commissioner’s Office can be contacted at http://ico.org.uk/concerns/.

Future Processing

I do not intend to process your personal information except for the reasons stated within this privacy notice. If this changes, this privacy notice will be amended and placed on this website at www.direct-access-barrister.com.

Changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice was published on 6 December 2021.

I continually reviews its privacy practices and may change this policy from time to time. When it does an amended privacy notice will be placed on this website.

Contact Details

If you have any questions about this privacy notice or the information I hold about you, please contact me using the contact details below.

The best way to contact is to write to me care of 3PB Barristers, The Colmore Building, Colmore Circus, Birmingham, B4 6AT or email at jamie.johnston@3pb.co.uk.