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

ICCA has started a programme of work to improve the reliability of expert evidence...

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...

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.