Features

Marc Weller reports on the legality of events in Crimea.  

Crimea has voted overwhelmingly in favour of incorporation into Russia. President Vladimir Putin and the Duma, the Russian Parliament, are set to implement this result. The G-7 states and the EU have declared the referendum unlawful and consider the incorporation of Crimea a grave violation of international standards, triggering sanctions against Russian officials. 

Commercial rent arrears recovery: John Sharples asks are you ready?  

Commercial rent arrears recovery (CRAR) has had a long gestation. The outline of the scheme is set out in Pt 3 and Sch 12 of the Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007 (TCEA 2007). Its implementation however was delayed to allow consultation with interested groups. This has now happened and the result is the Taking Control of Goods Regulations 2013 (SI 2013/1894) (TCGR 2013). They bring CRAR into effect and set out the procedure that landlords must follow.overy: John Sharples asks are you ready? 

Toby Craig contemplates the familiar story behind the recent further reductions to the criminal legal budget.  

And so, on 27 February, after months of consultation, discussion and protest, the Government announced its final intention further to reduce criminal legal aid. This comes on top of the swingeing cuts to civil legal aid, implemented through LASPO last year. 

The Judicial Appointments Commission was created under the provisions of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 to select judges for courts and tribunals in England and Wales and for some tribunals whose jurisdiction extends to Scotland. Selections are to be made solely on merit from a broad range of candidates.  

Each year around 5000 people put in an application for the wide range of court and tribunal roles available – many of them open only to lawyers and serving judges – but also for a myriad of specialist member roles. Around 500 or so of those aspiring applicants will be successful and receive an offer of appointment. The diversity of these selections is improving – over 50% were women in our most recent set of published diversity data for both legal and non-legal roles (April- September 2013). 

Gerard Rothschild offers guidance on the administering of oaths in an increasingly secular society.  

Authorisation to administer oaths is a privilege expressly conferred by a barrister’s practicing certificate which is often overlooked. How to administer oaths features neither in the BPTC syllabus nor in the Bar Council’s Handbook. In an increasingly secular society, yet one whose legislation appears still to attach special importance to the taking of oaths, it is incumbent on those of us entrusted to administer them to ensure due formality so that their significance is respected. This article seeks to redress the lack of guidance. 

The prevailing idea that the British courts are losing control to Strasbourg is to view the situation the wrong way around, argues Dean Spielmann, the President of the European Court of Human Rights.  

Hardly a day goes by without some reference in certain sectors of the British press to the European Court of Human Rights (“the Court”) in less than flattering terms. This criticism is often relayed by leading politicians. Recently some senior judges have also voiced unease about the Court. There is undeniably a problem in the way the work of the Court is currently understood and perceived in the United Kingdom. This is of particular concern to members of the Court and to me, its President, because of the outstanding contribution that the United Kingdom has made to the human rights protection system set up by the European Convention on Human Rights (“the Convention”) and the leading role it has played more generally in the development of human rights standards. I am therefore grateful to Counsel for this opportunity to try to dissipate some of the misconceptions that have arisen. I will seek to address two main criticisms of the Court - firstly that it is undemocratic, and secondly that it has excessively expanded the scope of the protected rights and freedoms. 

Significant changes have occurred in the way vulnerable witnesses are treated by the courts. Eleanor Laws QC considers the recent case of R v F [2013] EWCA Crim 424.  

Helen” is a 24 year-old deaf woman who lives with her parents. She cannot speak and has a limited ability to use sign language as a result of having learning difficulties and suffering from cerebral palsy restricting the use of her right hand. She has a limited number of friends and family and spends much of her time with her parents, either at home or in the local pub. 

Tracy Ayling QC, an Inner Temple Advocacy Trainer, explains the new and necessary way of cross-examining vulnerable witnesses and the training available to advocates to help them to follow the rules.  

It is true that there are some excellent and informative CPD courses at the end of every year. It is possible to collect your points whilst trying to assimilate rafts of cases and notes, delivered to you by experts in the field. How much of it you retain may be open for debate. 

Charlotte Proudman reviews her recent legal placement in Israel and demonstrates how litigation is being used strategically to bring about change.  

Last summer I took a sabbatical from practice to work for the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), specialising in strategic litigation. I was awarded an International Legal and Professional Development Grant from the Family Law Bar Association and the Bar Council. The purpose of my placement was to gain expertise in strategic litigation at an international level. 

Job title 

Barrister, 4 Pump Court 

4 Pump Court is a leading barristers’ chambers with expertise in commercial, construction, energy, professional negligence, shipping, information technology and telecommunications work.