Editing Call to the bar (section)

{{short description|Authorization to practice as a barrister}}
{{More citations needed|date=January 2013}}

The '''call to the bar'''<ref>[[Stanley Bindoff]], ''The House of Commons, 1509–1558, II: Members D–M'', Boydell & Brewer, 1982, p. 238 n. 1.</ref> is a legal [[term of art]] in most [[common law]] jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "'''called to the bar'''" or to have received "call to the bar". "The bar" is now used as a [[collective noun]] for [[barrister]]s, but literally referred to the wooden barrier in old courtrooms, which separated the often crowded public area at the rear from the space near the judges reserved for those having business with the court. Barristers would sit or stand immediately behind it, facing the judge, and could use it as a table for their [[brief (law)|briefs]].

Like many other common law terms, the term originated in [[Kingdom of England|England]] in the [[Middle Ages]], and the ''call to the bar'' refers to the [[summons]] issued to one found fit to speak at the "bar" of the royal courts. In time, English [[judge]]s allowed only legally qualified men to address them on the law and later delegated the qualification and admission of barristers to the four [[Inns of Court]]. Once an inn calls one of its members to its bar, they are thereafter a barrister. They may not, however, practise as a barrister until they have completed (or been exempted from) an apprenticeship called ''[[pupillage]]''. After completing pupillage, they are considered to be a practising barrister with a [[rights of audience|right of audience]] before all courts.

[[England and Wales]] and some other [[jurisdictions]] distinguish two types of [[lawyer]]s, who are regulated by different bodies, with separate training, examinations, regulation and traditions:
* Barristers primarily practise in court and generally specialise in advocacy in a particular field of law; they have a right of audience in all courts of England and Wales. 
* [[Solicitors]] do not necessarily undertake court work, but have a right of audience in the lower courts ([[magistrates' court]]s and [[county court]]s). They are ''admitted'' or ''enrolled'' as a solicitor, to conduct litigation and practise in law outside court, e.g., providing legal advice to lay clients and acting on their behalf in legal matters.

A solicitor must qualify as a [[solicitor-advocate]] in order to acquire the same "higher rights" of audience as a barrister. In other jurisdictions, the terminology and the degree of overlap between the roles of solicitor and barrister varies greatly; in most, the distinction has disappeared entirely.