Features

Toby Craig watches the legal aid consultation drama continue to unfold  

Nobody’s going on a summer holiday... 

David Wurtzel and Professor Penny Cooper examine how to ensure the effective participation of vulnerable defendants in a trial  

On 12 October 2010, Jordan Dixon, along with two co-defendants, was convicted of murder following a trial at the Old Bailey. A year before, on Halloween, Dixon and the two others came across a young man and his girlfriend in a town centre. One of the other defendants took part of the woman’s Halloween costume, stamped on it, and then spat. When her partner remonstrated, he was punched to the ground where he was kicked in the head. He died shortly afterward. All three defendants landed a blow; medical evidence could not establish who had been responsible for the fatal one. The most compelling evidence at trial came from the CCTV images which were played repeatedly. The jury found all three guilty on a joint enterprise basis. When the matter came before the Court of Appeal in March 2013, Dixon’s appeal against conviction was upheld (R v Dixon [2013] EWCA Crim 465). The real legal interest in the decision though concerns the question of the effective participation in his trial of a vulnerable defendant and of the value of a Ground Rules Hearing. The authors attended the appeal. 

Michael Todd QC reports back from the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association Biennial Conference 2013, held in Cape Town in April  

It served as a poignant reminder of South Africa’s recent past, and the rebirth of that Nation, that lawyers from all over the Commonwealth should gather in Cape Town, in April this year, for the Commonwealth Lawyers’ Association Biennial Conference. In many, if not most, of the jurisdictions which I visited last year as Chairman of the Bar, I was privileged to attend conferences and forums, the central theme of which was the Rule of Law. They were interesting, and often inspirational, conferences. There is no shortage of able, articulate and committed people available to speak on, or around, the subject; and it is absolutely vital that they should continue to do so. 

In a profession where reputations are prized and seniority is an obsession, the Annual Tournament of the Bar Golfing Society is a great leveller. Simon Goldstone and Guy Williams explain.  

The Bar Golfing Society has just played its Annual Tournament at Royal St. George’s, Sandwich. The tournament was won by HHJ Richard Bromilow (handicap of 5) 110 years after the first tournament was played down the ancient highway at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club (Deal). This year’s Final was a particularly close affair, Bromilow beating Jonathan Furness QC on the 19th hole. The golf improved along with the weather as the week progressed. Taking place annually in Whit week, the tournament rotates between Sandwich, Deal, and Rye, with occasional forays to Hunstanton and Royal Birkdale. The standard of golf course is therefore uniformly high, each tournament contested on one of the best England can offer, and at substantially discounted rates. The standard of golf is considerably more mixed. Every entrant believes he or she has a genuine chance of winning; golfers of all standards are warmly welcomed; the tournament expects to see eagles and air shots equally. 

As scandal sweeps through the corridors of power again, Toby Craig surveys the political scene  

School for scandal
Fifty years ago last month saw the culmination of one of Westminster’s defining scandals, the Profumo Affair. On 5 June, 1963, Secretary of State for War, John Profumo, finally resigned from Cabinet, having lied about an affair with Christine Keeler. Sex, lies, espionage; it had everything. One might be forgiven for thinking that it would also serve as a lesson for the next generation of politicians, and the one after that, and the one after. But alas, when it comes to the lawmaking fraternity, scandal is never that far from the surface. And so it proved as the whiff of impropriety wafted through Westminster and Whitehall once more. 

Paul Magrath provides an overview of current guidance for Litigants in Person  

Family Courts without a Lawyer: A Handbook for Litigants in Person, by Lucy Reed (Bath Publishing, 350pp, £29)
Small Claims Procedure in the County Court, by Patricia Pearl and Andrew Goodman (Wildy, Simmonds and Hill, 309pp, £19.99)
Representing Yourself In Court: Guide to Civil Law, by Francis Manyika (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 104pp, £28.68)
A Guide to Representing Yourself in Court, The Bar Council (72pp, free)
A Guide to Bringing and Defending a Small Claim, Civil Justice Council (30pp, free). 

Paul Magrath provides an overview of current guidance for Litigants in Person  

Family Courts without a Lawyer: A Handbook for Litigants in Person, by Lucy Reed (Bath Publishing, 350pp, £29)
Small Claims Procedure in the County Court, by Patricia Pearl and Andrew Goodman (Wildy, Simmonds and Hill, 309pp, £19.99)
Representing Yourself In Court: Guide to Civil Law, by Francis Manyika (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 104pp, £28.68)
A Guide to Representing Yourself in Court, The Bar Council (72pp, free)
A Guide to Bringing and Defending a Small Claim, Civil Justice Council (30pp, free). 

Paul Epstein QC and Ed Williams explain witness familiarisation – the training, judicial attitudes, and how to stay within professional boundaries  

In the recent High Court battle of the oligarchs between the late Boris Berezovsky and Roman Abramovich the case turned on conversations several decades earlier. What the two men said and how they said it was central to Mrs Justice Gloster’s eventual judgment dismissing Mr Berezovsky’s £5bn claim. 

Registration for the controversial Quality Assurance Scheme for Advocates is due to be rolled out across the country. Joshua Rozenberg looks at the history behind QASA for  Counsel, and why its introduction is so contentious.  

In a perfect world, there would be no need for regulators to impose quality controls on advocates. Indeed, there would be no need for lawyers to be regulated at all. If you were good, you would get work. If not, word would soon get around. 

There was a time when the Bar of England and Wales was small enough for that approach to be effective. In some specialist areas of the legal profession, I suspect it still is. But criminal advocacy now faces too many challenges for market forces to operate effectively. 

H.H. Judge Peter Murphy talks to Counsel about his novel, A Higher Duty  

Why write a novel about barristers?  This is really two questions in one, isn’t it? First, why write a novel at all? Second, why write a novel about barristers?