The Bar Council has abandoned plans to invite recorders to hear disciplinary cases in case it eroded public confidence in the complaints system.
A plan to widen the pool of potential disciplinary tribunal chairmen was put to the Bar Council at its meeting on 5 February.
Tribunals are currently chaired by judiciary members, who are usually circuit judges. It was proposed that the rules governing tribunals be amended to allow recorders to preside over the hearings; about 40 of which take place a year.
Head of professional standards and legal services, Mark Stobbs, said the Bar Council was asking for leeway in case it ran into difficulties in finding a judge to preside over hearings, which can last several days.
He added: "It was felt that in order to maintain public confidence the rules should not be changed."
Stobbs said there had only been one occasion when the Bar Council had had difficulty in finding a judge to hear a case.
He added: "There has been no suggestion from judges that they are too busy to hear cases."