The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court (professional associations for barristers and judges) in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns. It is located in the wider Temple area of the capital, near the Royal Courts of Justice, and within the City of London.
The Inn is a professional body that provides legal training, selection, and regulation for members. It is ruled by a governing council called "Parliament", made up of the Masters of the Bench (or "Benchers"), and led by the Treasurer, who is elected to serve a one-year term. The Temple takes its name from the Knights Templar, who originally leased the land to the Temple's inhabitants (Templars) until their abolition in 1312. The Inner Temple was a distinct society from at least 1388, although as with all the Inns of Court its precise date of founding is not known. After a disruptive early period (during which the Temple was almost entirely destroyed in the Peasants' Revolt) it flourished, becoming the second largest Inn during the Elizabethan period (after Gray's Inn).
The Inner Temple expanded during the reigns of James I and Charles I, with 1,700 students admitted between 1600 and 1640. The First English Civil War's outbreak led to a complete suspension of legal education,[1] with the Inns close to being shut down for almost four years. Following the English Restoration the Inner Templars welcomed Charles II back to London personally with a lavish banquet.
After a period of slow decline in the 18th century, the following 100 years saw a restoration of the Temple's fortunes, with buildings constructed or restored, such as the Hall and the Library. Much of this work was destroyed during The Blitz, when the Hall, Temple, Temple Church, and many sets of chamberswere devastated. Rebuilding was completed in 1959, and today the Temple is a flourishing and active Inn of Court, with over 8,000 members.
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[hide]Role[edit]
See also: Barristers in England and Wales and Inns of Court
The Inner Temple is one of the four Inns of Court,[2] along with Gray's Inn,[3] Lincoln's Inn, and the Middle Temple.[4][5] The Inns are responsible for training, regulating, and selecting barristers within England and Wales, and are the only bodies allowed to call a barrister to the Bar and allow him or her to practice.[6] The Temple is an independent,[2] unincorporated organisation,[6] and works as a trust.
It has approximately 8,000 members and around 450 apply to join per year.[6] Although the Inn was previously a disciplinary and teaching body, these functions are now shared between the four Inns, with the Bar Standards Board (a division of the General Council of the Bar) acting as a disciplinary body and the Inns of Court and Bar Educational Trust providing education.
History[edit]
The Knights Templar and the founding of the Inner Temple[edit]
The history of the Inner Temple begins in the early years of the reign of Henry II (1154–1189), when the contingent of Knights Templar in London moved from the Old Temple in Holborn to a new location on the banks of the River Thames, stretching from Fleet Street to what is now Essex House.[7] The original Temple covered much of what is now the northern part of Chancery Lane (originally New Street), which the Knights created to provide access to their new buildings. The old Temple eventually became the London palace of the Bishop of Lincoln. After the Reformation it became the home of the Earl of Southampton, and the location is now named Southampton Buildings. The first group of lawyers came to live here during the 13th century, although as legal advisers to the Knights rather than as a society. The Knights fell out of favour, and the order was dissolved in 1312, with the land seized by the king and granted to the Knights Hospitaller. The Hospitallers probably did not live on the property, but rather used it as a source of revenue through rent.[8]
During the 12th and 13th centuries, the law was taught in the City of London, primarily by the clergy. During the 13th century, two events happened that destroyed this form of legal education; first, a papal bull of 1207 that prohibited the clergy from teaching the common law, rather than canon law,[9] and second, a decree by Henry III of England on 2 December 1234 that no institutes of legal education could exist in the City of London.[10][11] As a result the system of legal education fell apart. The common lawyers migrated to the hamlet of Holborn, as it was easy to get to the law courts at Westminster Hall and was outside the City.[11]
Two groups occupied the Hospitaller land, and became known as the "inner inn" (occupying the consecrated buildings near the centre of the temple) and the "middle inn" (occupying the unconsecrated buildings between the "inner inn" and the Outer Temple). These became the Inner Temple and the Middle Temple, and were distinct societies by 1388, when they are mentioned in a year book.[8] The Hospitallers leased the land to the Inner Temple for £10 a year, with students coming from Thavie's Inn to study there.[12]
Early years[edit]
There are few records of the Inner Temple from the 14th and 15th centuries—indeed, from all the societies, although Lincoln's Inn's records stretch back to 1422. The Temple was sacked by Wat Tyler and his rebels during the Peasants' Revolt in 1381, with buildings pulled down and records destroyed. John Stow wrote that, after breaking into Fleet Prison the rebels:
John Baker thinks that the inhabitants took the opportunity to rebuild much of the Temple, and that this was when the Temple's Hall was built, since it contained 14th century roofing that would not have been available to the Knights Templar.[8] The Inns of Court were similarly attacked in Jack Cade's rebellion, although there are no specific records showing damage to the Inner Temple.[14]
With the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1539, the Hospitallers' properties were confiscated by the king, who leased them to the Inner and Middle Temples until 1573. Following a Scotsman's request to purchase the land, the Inner and Middle Temples appealed to James I, who granted the land to a group of noted lawyers and Benchers, including Sir Julius Caesar and Henry Montague, and to "their heirs and assignees for ever" on the condition that the Inner and Middle Temples each paid him £10 a year.[15]
Elizabethan age[edit]
The Elizabethan age saw a large amount of rebuilding and beautification within the Temple, and with over 100 sets of chambers it was the second largest Inn (after Gray's Inn), with 155 residential students reported in 1574.[8]
In winter 1561, the Inner Temple was the scene of an extraordinary set of revels that celebrated the raising of Robert Dudley as the Temple's "Christmas Prince", a role he was granted in gratitude for his intervention in a dispute with the Middle Temple over Lyon's Inn, one of the Inns of Chancery that had historically been tied to the Inner Temple. Dudley's influence swayed Elizabeth into asking Nicholas Bacon to rule in favour of the Inner Temple, and in gratitude the Parliament and Governors swore never to take a case against Dudley and to offer him their legal services whenever required.[16]
This pledge was always honoured, and in 1576 the Inner Temple Parliament referred to Dudley as the "chief governor of this House".[17] The play was partially documented by Gerard Legh in his Accedens of Armory, a book of heraldry woodcuts, which described Dudley's role as Prince Pallaphilos, the lieutenant of Athena and Patron of the Order of the Pegasus.[18]
Seventeenth century[edit]
The Inner Temple continued to expand during the reigns of James I and Charles I, with 1,700 students admitted to the Inn between 1600 and 1640.[8] The outbreak of the First English Civil War led to a complete suspension of legal education,[1] with the Inns almost shut down for nearly four years; the Inns "suffered a mortal collapse".[8] Nothing was done to adapt the old system of legal education, which was declining anyway, to the new climate of internal war.[19] After the end of the Civil War, the old system was not restored; Readers refused to read and both barristers and Benchers refused to follow the internal regulations.[20] The last reading at Inner Temple was made in 1678.[8]
Following the English Restoration, the Inner Temple welcomed Charles II back to London with a lavish banquet on 15 August 1661. The banquet was hosted by Sir Heneage Finch, the Speaker of the House of Commons and was attended by the King, four Dukes including the Duke of York, fourteen Earls of England, Scotland and Ireland, 6 Lords and the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas.[21] The group proceeded from Whitehall on the King's barge, landed at the Temple and walked through the Temple Garden surrounded by all the Benchers, barristers and servants of the Temple, fifty of whom brought a lavish feast for the revellers. At the start of the next legal term, two Dukes including the Duke of York, two Earls and two Lords were admitted as members, and the Duke of York wascalled to the Bar and made an honorary Bencher.[22]
During the rule of the House of Stuart, much was done by the Court of Star Chamber to enforce religious edicts against Catholicism within the Inner Temple. An order was sent directly to the Benchers proclaiming that no "pson eyther convented or suspected for papistrye shulde be called eyther to the benche or to the barre", and at the same time Benchers were selected specifically because of their Protestant beliefs, with popular and successful Catholics held back.[23]
This period also features an example of the independent standing of the Temple; in 1668 the Lord Mayor of London attempted to enter the Temple with his sword, something that was his right in the City but not permitted within the Temple. The students took his sword and forced him to spend the night in a set of chambers; when he escaped and tried to return, they called the trainbands.[24] The Mayor complained to the King, who heard the case on 7 April 1669 and decided to allow it to be determined by law rather than by his royal privilege; the lawyers returned to the principle that the Temple could set its own internal rules on the right to carry swords.[25]
Eighteenth century to the present[edit]
The 18th century was a period of relative stability, with an element of decline. The Benchers of the time were described as "opposed to all modern fashions, including new-fangled comforts", with the Inn's buildings deteriorating.[26] Much of the Temple was rebuilt during the 19th century, most noticeably the Hall and Library, although fever and disease continued as a result of the Inn's still-outdated systems; the same water was used both for drinking and flushing the toilet, for example.[27]
In 1922 the Temple called Ivy Williams to the bar, making her the first female barrister in England and Wales.[26] The Temple suffered massively during The Blitz in the Second World War; as well as attacks on 19 September 1940 and 26 September, which destroyed the Library clocktower and the Hall respectively, on 10–11 May 1941 the Inn was hit by a series of incendiaries which destroyed the inside of Temple Church, the Hall, the Library and many sets of chambers. Fires continued to burn for another day, despite the assistance of the Fire Brigade and several barristers and employees.[28]
A decision was made to put off rebuilding until after the cessation of hostilities, and plans began in 1944, when the Temple contacted the War Damage Commission to provide the £1.5 million to cover the damage. £1.4 million was provided, with the rest found elsewhere.[29] Further delays were suffered thanks to the Temple's choice of architect, Hubert Worthington, who was so slow that the Benchers ended up replacing him with his junior associate, T.W. Sutcliffe, and eventually Sir Edward Maufe. The chambers were the priority, with parts of King's Bench Walk finished in 1949,[30] and the final building (the Library) was opened on 21 April 1958.[31]
In 2001 the Inner Temple bought the neighbouring 1–2 Serjeant's Inn, which can be accessed directly from the Inner Temple, with the intention of converting it to barristers' chambers. However the plans have since changed and instead hotel premises will be developed there.[32] No. 3 Serjeant's Inn has been a barristers' chambers, occupying commercial premises, since 1986.[33] Mitre Court, which connects the Inner Temple area, Serjeant's Inn and Fleet Street, has also recently become home to barristers' chambers.
Structure and governance[edit]
The Temple is governed by the Parliament, an executive council made up of the elected Benchers.[34] The Parliament is led by the Treasurer, who is elected annually to serve a one-year term; the current Treasurer is the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Tomlinson and the immediate past Treasurer is Simon Thorley QC. The Temple also has a Reader, who traditionally holds the position for a year before being made the Treasurer;[8] the current Reader is the Rt. Hon. Lord Justice Moore-Bick.[35]
Inner Temple was historically governed by a Treasurer and three Governors. Members were divided into two categories; Clerks (Clerici) admitted to Clerks' Commons and Fellows Socii admitted to Fellows' Commons. The Governors held Parliament with a small group of senior barristers; in 1508, for example, Parliament was held with three Governors and four senior barristers.[36] The last Governor was elected in 1566, and Benchers took over later that century.[37] Benchers, or Masters of the Bench, are elected members of the Parliament responsible for overseeing the estates, the Inn's finances and setting internal policy.[38] Today there are approximately 200 governing Benchers (barristers and members of the judiciary) and honorary, academic and Royal Benchers appointed as well as those practising in other jurisdictions.[38]
Coat of Arms[edit]
The Coat of Arms of the Inner Temple is, in blazon, "Azure a pegasus salient argent", or a Pegasus.[39] Gerard Legh is normally given the credit for having suggested the Pegasus as a coat of arms, having given an account of Robert Dudley playing the part of Prince Pallaphilos, a patron of the Honorable Order of Pegasus in the 1561 Christmas revels.[40] It may alternately have come about because of the tiles in Temple Church, which show a knight on horseback with a shield and sword raised. From this point onwards the Arms were considered the Temple's property, and they were confirmed by the College of Armsin 1967.[39]