The Barristers (Qualification for Office) Act 1961 (9 & 10 Eliz.

2. c. 44) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that modified the requirements for a barristers call to the Bar.

[1] The Act allows time spent as a solicitor to be taken into account when calculating any required period of service for promotion to a role in, for example, the judiciary.

The Act was moved as a private members bill and given its second reading by Lord Mancroft, who personally felt that it would have little effect.

[2] It was, however, seen as a sign that the two branches of the English legal profession were moving closer to fusion, and allowed solicitors to take up judicial offices previously closed to them.