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{{Short description|Senior member of an Inn of Court in England and Wales and Ireland}}
{{for|the prayer book with the Jewish grace before and after meals|Birkat Hamazon}}
[[Image:London-Inns-of-Court.JPG|thumb|Combined arms of the four Inns of Court. Clockwise from top left: [[Lincoln's Inn]], [[Middle Temple]], [[Gray's Inn]], [[Inner Temple]].]]
A '''bencher''' or '''Master of the Bench''' is a senior member of an [[Inns of Court|Inn of Court]] in [[England and Wales]] or the [[Bar of Northern Ireland|Inns of Court in Northern Ireland]], or the [[King's Inns|Honorable Society of King's Inns]] in [[Ireland]]. Benchers hold office for life once elected. A bencher can be elected while still a [[barrister]] (usually, but not always, [[King's Counsel]] in the UK or [[Senior counsel|Senior Counsel]] in Ireland), in recognition of the contribution that the barrister has made to the life of the Inn or to the law. Others become benchers as a matter of course when appointed as a [[High Court judge (England and Wales)|High Court judge]]. The Inn may elect non-members as honorary benchers &ndash; for example, distinguished judges and lawyers from other countries, eminent non-lawyers or (in the English Inns) members of the [[British Royal Family]], who become known as "Royal Benchers" once elected.
One member of each Inn is the [[Treasurer]], a position which is held for one year only.  While succession to the post of Treasurer was once dependent purely on seniority (or ''[[auncienty]]''), this is no longer the case. The Treasurer is now elected. Two [[Reader (Inns of Court)|Readers]] are also elected each year.
== Etymology ==
Historically, the most junior student barristers were only permitted to watch [[moot court]] trials and stood within the [[Bar (law)|bar]] of the moot courtroom. More qualified barristers (known in England as "outer" or "utter" barristers) were permitted to join the argument and stood outside the bar. The most senior barristers were permitted to sit on the bench at moots. This third class of barristers became known as "Benchers" or "Masters of the Bench".
== England usage ==
The practices and regulations vary from Inn to Inn, but the benchers are the ultimate governing body of the relevant Inn. The benchers govern the finances of the Inn, and they alone have the authority to admit students, to [[Call to the bar|call students to the bar]], and to elect other benchers. Today, the benchers of the four English Inns have common standards agreed with the [[Bar Council]]. They have the formal power to discipline members of their Inn by suspending or expelling them from membership of the Inn, and by disbarring them. Disciplinary functions are now shared with the Council of the Inns of Court, the [[Bar Standards Board]] and its Complaints Committee (formerly known as the Professional Conduct and Complaints Committee).
== Ireland usage ==
The governing structure of [[The Honorable Society of King's Inns|King's Inns]] dates from the sixteenth century and are composed of "Benchers". Originally, the benchers were composed of the Lord Chancellor, judges and senior barristers. Today, benchers include elected Bar Benchers, Judicial Benchers (includes all judges of the Superior Courts) and Honorary Benchers and they have the power to conferring the degree of Barrister-at-Law, suspending or disbarring barristers and dealing with disciplinary matters.
== Canadian usage ==
The terms ''bencher'' and ''treasurer'' are in use by the [[Law of Canada|legal profession in Canada]]. A bencher in the Canadian context is a member of the [[board of directors]] of a provincial law society. Most benchers are lawyers, but in some provinces there are also lay benchers who represent the public interest.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lawsociety.bc.ca/about-us/benchers/|title = Benchers &#124; the Law Society of British Columbia}}</ref>
In some provinces the head of the board is known as the ''treasurer''.<ref name="LSUC">{{cite web|title=Benchers|url=http://www.lsuc.on.ca/with.aspx?id=1136|website=Law Society of Upper Canada|publisher=Law Society of Upper Canada|access-date=24 February 2017}}</ref> Paralegals are also elected as benchers, in those provinces where law societies govern their profession.
==See also==
{{Portal|Ireland|Law}}
*[[Bench (law)]]
*[[Crossbencher]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
*''[[Halsbury's Laws of England]]'', Barristers, para.431
==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060720074636/http://www.innertemple.org.uk/archive/itad/legal_profession.html Legal profession to 1850] from [[Inner Temple]]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20061003211533/http://www.online-law.co.uk/bar/lincolns/history/benchers.html Benchers] at [[Lincoln's Inn]]
[[Category:Legal professions]]
[[Category:Bar of England and Wales]]