Standing Conference on Legal Education

Following the disappearance of the old non-statutory Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee, there was no longer any forum in which those responsible for the provision of legal education could discuss matters of common concern; nor was there any regular machinery for communication between the world of legal education and the new statutory Lord Chancellor's Advisory Committee on Legal Education and Conduct (ACLEC). The then ACLEC Chairman, Lord Griffiths, therefore suggested the creation of a new forum in the shape of the Standing Conference on Legal Education (SCLE), and offered his own services as Chairman; meetings were also to be held at ACLEC. Financial support came from the Law Society and the Bar; an elected secretary was to carry out administrative work. The Conference meets six monthly: representatives include both the practising professions and academic lawyers. It consists of 22 members nominated by the legal profession and by the main providers of legal education; these include the Bar, the Law Society, Inns of Court School of Law, Inns of Court and Bar Educational Trust (formerly Council of Legal Education), the College of Law, the Association of Law Teachers, the Society of Public Teachers of Law, the Heads of University Law Schools, Legal Education and Training Group, Institute of Legal Executives, ACLEC and the Lord Chancellor's Department. The Conference offers advice and assistance to ACLEC; no formal links between the two have been created as the attendance of meetings by the ACLEC Chairman and Secretary has rendered this unnecessary.