Anti-Racist Statement

Deka Chambers is committed to being an anti-racist organisation. We applaud the Bar Standards Board’s Anti-Racist Statement of November 2020, to which we add this Statement of our own.

Deka Chambers has, for many years, recognised the need to promote equality, diversity and inclusivity. Under the leadership of former Head of Chambers Grahame Aldous KC, who led on this for the bar, equality and diversity training became mandatory for our members and staff and this is written into our constitution.

We recognise that, if our recruitment methods result in a chambers which is not representative of the society in which it is located, that is not only unfair, but also bad bussiness: it means we are missing out on talent. We see anti-racism as a core business function of our set.

But we recognise that we need to go further. We are therefore committed to taking positive steps to move against racial inequality in our chambers:

1. We have set up an anti-racism committee which will seek to draw together the experience and skills of members and staff dealing with discrimination and racial inequality.
2. We will bring in external expertise where we find we lack it.
3. We will provide anti-racism training to all members and staff. This will take us further than our equality and diversity training has done so far.
4. We will modify the way we recruit new members, pupils and mini pupils.
5. We are signed up to the 10,000 Black Interns programme and welcome interns to chambers each summer.

We will update this statement as we progress. Please check back on us later to see how we have done.