"This type of conduct has no place in a modern, inclusive bar", the UK Bar Standards Board says
A UK barrister was slapped with immediate suspension and disbarment by a tribunal after being found guilty in relation to several sexual harassment charges, reported the Law Society Gazette.
According to a statement by the UK’s Bar Standards Board (BSB), Robert Michael Kearney had already been disciplined in the past for such conduct, leading to the decision to disbar him.
“The tribunal’s decision to disbar Mr Kearney demonstrates that sexual harassment is manifestly incompatible with the high standards expected of the Bar - this type of conduct has no place in a modern, inclusive bar”, BSB legal and enforcement director Sara Jagger said.
In two different cases, two pupil barristers and a student on a mini-pupillage accused Kearney of harassment; the first case highlighted his behaviour towards the two pupils at a chambers social event and at a bar, while the second involved a number of incidents regarding his conduct towards the student, according to the Gazette.
In addition to the disbarment, the tribunal called for immediate suspension pending any appeal and issued an order for the BSB to move forward with suspending Kearney’s practising certificate.
Kearney was suspended in 2021 for sexual comments directed at a female mini-pupil; in 2018, he was fined for inappropriate drunken conduct towards a pupil. He resigned from the Manchester-based Lincoln House Chambers in March 2020.
The BSB had just last year unveiled a more stringent sanction regime for sexual misconduct following criticism regarding its leniency with offenders.
