Welcome

The Inns of Court College of Advocacy (formerly the ATC) was established by the Council of the Inns of Court (COIC). The College comprises barristers, judges and others drawn from the Inns, the Circuits, the Bar Council of England and Wales, Specialist Bar Associations and other representative organisations.

Our main functions are to provide leadership, guidance and coordination in relation to the pursuit of excellence in advocacy.

Use the links below to explore what we do:

Promoting Reliability in Expert Evidence

The ICCA is hosting three one-day conferences on the handling of expert witnesses...

Youth Justice Advocacy

ICCA has produced some guidance for practitioners representing children...

Advocacy and the Vulnerable

The ‘Advocacy and the Vulnerable’ Training Programme has been designed to ensure...

International Advocacy Training

ICCA (formerly the ATC), as required by its constitution, is committed to assisting...

On Saturday 6 April 2019, the ICCA’s Training & Accreditation Committee will host an Advocacy Trainers’ Symposium. The Symposium will include all levels of advocacy trainers and aims to share visions about the development of advocacy training, act as a forum for open discussion around common problems encountered during training and determine how to further develop the programme of training available.

Accredited advocacy trainers of the Inns and Circuits and advocacy tutors on the BPTC programmes are invited to sign up through our Eventbrite booking page.

The programme will include keynotes from Timothy Dutton QC and The Hon Justice Ann Ainslie-Wallace on the Challenges for the 21st Century Advocate and from Professor Cheryl Thomas and Martin Griffiths QC on the New View of Teaching Ethics.

Breakout sessions will include:

Advanced Advocacy Training – is it needed?
The International Dimension to Advocacy Teaching
Technology in Teaching

Key details:

Date: Saturday 6 April 2019
Location: Great Hall, Lincoln’s Inn
Time: 9.15am – 4.30pm. The programme will be followed by a complimentary drinks reception.
Cost: Free to Advocacy Trainers

Expert Evidence Training Conferences 2018-19

The ICCA will be hosting three one-day conferences on the handling of expert witnesses, the syllabus for which has been created in consultation with a number of Specialists Bar Associations (SBAs).

The conferences comprise practical training based on case studies in two specialist areas; the programme includes case analysis, lectures, and cross-examination with real experts. It is suitable for Practitioners over 5 years’ call.

Read more here

Revised 20 Principles

A revised ‘20 Principles’ document is now available on the ICCA website. The main thrust of the guidance has not changed but the document has been simplified and better explanations provided.

In due course the revised version will be sent to every delegate who has undertaken the training. We are in the process of updating references in the accompanying training materials.

Review of the Hampel Method

The Inns and circuits have for very many years been involved in helping pupils and young advocates develop their advocacy skills – particularly oral advocacy. For the last 25 years training has followed a structured method of teaching referred to colloquially as “The Hampel Method“ and this has been largely unchanged and unchallenged as the leading method of advocacy training since its introduction. The demands for training have increased and more advanced and specialist courses are increasingly being introduced.