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A report from the body that oversees Queen’s Counsel appointments has recommended a raft of changes to encourage women to apply and bring the numbers of female silks nearer to the proportion eligible in the profession. Women appear more reluctant to apply for a number of reasons, it found.

Almost half of female barristers have experienced discrimination at work and 40% have experienced harassment, a major report by the Bar Standards Board has found. Dr Vanessa Davies, director general of the BSB, described the findings as “very disappointing”.

Barristers specialising in professional negligence are more likely than colleagues in any other area of law to generate complaints, a report by the Bar Standards Board has found. The research found that ethnicity did not have an impact on complaints, but gender did, with men more likely to be complained about.

Lord Hodge, the justice of the Supreme Court representing Scotland, has made it clear that he does not agree with Lord Sumption’s view that it could take 50 years to achieve gender equality in the judiciary. Lord Hodge also said he disagreed with Lady Hale over the issue of positive discrimination.

An equal gender balance among practising barristers is “unlikely ever to be achieved” if current trends continue, a Bar Council report has warned. However, there was better news on BAME representation, which is due to hit 20%.