Features

Kirsty Brimelow QC, Chairwoman of the Bar Human Rights Committee, explains its work  

The Bar Human Rights Committee (BHRC) was set up by a small group of English barristers in 1991. Its original remit was to provide support and remedies for judges and lawyers, in other countries, who were being persecuted or prevented from performing their professional duties. 

A much anticipated day in court ends before it even gets started 

February 8 2013: “‘Twas a rough night!” - Macbeth  

It always is a rough night prior to the first day of an important case, particularly when it is a Sunday. There is all that coffee the night before, as you take a last (or sometimes first) serious look at the papers, together with cheese snacks and all available distractions competing to draw one’s eye from the dire events of the morrow. 

Senior judges have for good reason long resisted all attempts to undermine the secrecy and anonymity that attaches to juries. Does the internet now threaten this, asks Adam King  

The rule prohibiting jurors from conducting internet research on defendants and witnesses is well-established and, particularly after the recent imprisonment of Joanna Fraill and Theodora Dallas, well-known. 

Tomorrow’s Lawyers: An Introduction to Your Future 
Richard Susskind
ISBN: 978 0 19 966806 9
January 2013
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Price: £9.99 

Richard Susskind, professor of law and sometime advisor to judiciary and government on computing and the law, thinks himself something of a matador, facing down the heavy, pawing mass of a legal profession that seems set to charge off on its own merry way. Rather than slaughtering the steer before him, however, Susskind wants to grab it by the horns and lead it out of the ring into sunny pastures new. 

CPD is a system of inputs that is completely blind to the outcomes, writes Matthew Nicklin. How best, then, to ensure that barristers are competent in the areas in which they practise?  

When Continuing Professional Development (CPD) was first made compulsory by the Bar Council, it was the Bar’s first discernible quality assurance measure for consumer protection. The theory was simple. Practitioners were required to complete a designated number of hours of recognised activities designed to keep them up to the mark. 

With pro bono projects about to be tested to their limits, it is imperative that proper use is made of the hard-fought-for legislation and supporting bodies, writes Guy Skelton  

Despite a somewhat dubious public perception, the law has an honourable history of philanthropy and charitable work. The nationwide legal walks, for example, are a powerful symbol of the legal sector’s belief in ‘giving back’. The 6,000 people who took part in this year’s London Legal Walk — a host of chambers, solicitors firms, Citizens Advice Bureaus, the judiciary and pro bono projects — raised over £530,000. 

Stephen Cragg, in the Maldives to observe on behalf of the Bar Human Rights Committee the prosecution of ex-President Mohammed Nasheed, reveals a very different side to the ‘paradise’ islands.  

The Maldives is a destination probably best known to some barristers as a place to soak up some winter sun and relieve the stress of professional life, on one of the luxurious island resorts which are strung out both north and south of the capital city of Male, home to about two thirds of the 300,000 population of the Maldives. 

The Attorney General, Dominic Grieve QC MP, explains how he sees the relationship between politicians and judges  

A new polemic has emerged that the sovereignty of Parliament is being eroded and that the power of the judges, here and in Europe, is increasing to the point of their becoming the governors. 

Rebecca Wilkie's job title: Chief Executive, BPBU
Chris Broom's job title: Senior Clerk, Gray’s Inn Tax Chambers Management Committee member, BPBU 

The Bar Pro Bono Unit is a charity which facilitates pro bono work from volunteer barristers for those who cannot afford to pay and who cannot obtain public funding.  

What do you credit the success of the Bar Pro Bono Unit (BPBU) to?
RW: The people who work with us. 75% of our cases are placed through clerks so their commitment makes a huge difference in enabling our requests for help to spread as far as possible across the Bar. 

Max Hardy explains how an effective introduction to Continental law can be gained through the Anglo-Dutch Exchange  

A common, although not universal, failing among many English barristers is a surprising ignorance of foreign jurisdictions. Of course we are familiar with the Common Law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth and the United States and used to citing their cases, but when it comes to our near European neighbours sometimes a blank is drawn.