Former Criminal Bar Association chair Jo Sidhu KC has asked the High Court to overturn his lifetime ban from the legal profession, arguing that his disbarment for sexual misconduct was “disproportionate” to the findings against him.
Sidhu, one of the UK’s most high-profile criminal barristers, was struck off in March after a Bar Standards Board (BSB) tribunal ruled that he engaged in inappropriate conduct toward a woman in her 20s who was shadowing him during a mini-pupillage in 2018.
The tribunal found that Sidhu, then in his 50s, invited the junior colleague to his hotel room for work, asked her to remain overnight in his bed, and later initiated consensual physical contact. The panel held that the behaviour breached professional standards and risked “diminishing trust” in the barristers’ profession, particularly given Sidhu’s seniority and the woman’s junior status as a paralegal.
In written arguments filed with the High Court, Sidhu’s legal team—led by Shakespeare Martineau—said the sanction went beyond what the facts supported. They claim the tribunal overstated the level of harm involved and failed to align the penalty with similar cases in which other professionals found guilty of misconduct did not receive lifetime bans.
Sidhu’s lawyers say a series of messages exchanged between the pair for nearly two years after the incident shows they maintained a friendly rapport, which, they argue, undermines the finding of “significant harm.”
“Mr Sidhu has always believed that the tribunal’s decision of disbarment was disproportionate,” his lawyer Daniel Jennings said. “He does not challenge the findings of misconduct and accepts them in full. He deeply regrets his actions, which—though consensual—were inappropriate. He is deeply sorry to Person Two for the way he acted.”
The BSB declined to comment on the ongoing legal challenge.
The High Court will determine whether the tribunal’s sanction should stand or be reconsidered, a decision that could shape how professional-conduct penalties are applied in future cases involving senior-junior power dynamics.
He sat at the back of the courtroom, staring into space while his legal team argued that the sexual encounter with the student had been consensual. Oh the shame.