Features

John Thompson spent 18 years in prison, 14 of them on Death Row. Just before his execution date he was exonerated after it transpired there had been non-disclosure of prosecution evidence. He lost his subsequent claim for compensation and set up a charity, Resurrection from Exoneration, to assist exonerated prisoners integrate into society. Max Hardy reports.  

John Thompson of New Orleans knew that he would die on 20 May 1999 because that was the date fixed for his execution by the State of Louisiana. 14 years of exhausted appeals in State and Federal courts were going to conclude with the “chair” in Angola, the Louisiana State Penitentiary. Only gubernatorial clemency stood between him and certain death: or failing that a miracle. Fortunately for him providence was on his side. 

Taryn Lee and Toby Craig look forward to this year’s Bar Conference on Saturday 5 November and explain how the Bar can overcome a period of great change to ensure a bright future.  

As barristers, clerks, practice managers, solicitors and many others come together on Saturday 5 November to take part in this year’s 26th Annual Bar Conference, the Bar looks around and finds change in almost everything it sees. The legal profession has been subject to a range of new regulation and legislation in recent years, coupled with a deep financial crisis which has affected all professions and created stark challenges and strong opportunities. 

They have arrived in the Supreme Court. The Government proposes  allowing them in for sentencing. Has the time come for cameras to be allowed into all of our courts? 

Here Simon Bucks puts the case for cameras, and Jon McLeod the case against… 

The Court of Protection has been accused of being overly secretive. Elizabeth Cleaver examines recent cases where  the media has been allowed to attend

The new Court of Protection was set up in 2007 to take important decisions for those who lack the capacity to do so for themselves. These issues include where the patient should live, who should manage their finances and what medical treatment they should receive. Prior to 2007 the Court of Protection was part of the Office of the Public Guardian but these are now two separate bodies. It was felt that more clarity was needed concerning day to day decision-making for the most vulnerable members of our society. These decisions are of paramount importance to the patient and can be of the most private nature. Although Court of Protection cases are normally heard in private some recent cases have raised the question of publicising them. 

What is a media monopoly in this country and how did Rupert Murdoch get permission to buy the rest of BSkyB? Matthew Cook examines competition law in respect of media ownership

Amid the present controversy over hacking at the News of the World, concerns have once again come to the fore about the size and role of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire and the power that this gives him over British politicians and the British public.  The position is very different from a few months ago when it looked likely that News International would be given permission to extend its media empire in the United Kingdom still further by acquiring the rest of BSkyB (in which it presently has a 39.1% minority interest), subject only to a condition that it should dispose of Sky News. 

Job title
Silk, One Essex Court

One Essex Court specialises in all forms of commercial litigation. Its work embraces all aspects of domestic and international trade, commerce and finance. Its members provide specialist advice and advocacy services worldwide, which include all areas of dispute resolution, litigation and arbitration. Members of Chambers also regularly accept nominations as arbitrators, mediators and experts

Christopher Stephens, the new Chairman  of the Judical Appointments Commission, talks to Counsel’s David Wurzel about the Commission’s aims and his role.  

“I arrived knowing very little in February”, Christopher Stephens, the new Chairman of the Judicial Appointments Commission (the “JAC”) confessed when I met him in September. Since then, he says, “I have learned my way through your profession”. He did however have a head start in respect of recommending people for appointments:  before becoming a Civil Service Commissioner and a member of the Senior Salaries Review Board he spent 30 years in Human Resources. 

James Woolf explains the role of the Bar Council’s Ethical Enquiries Service . 

“I’m pretty sure that I know the answer to this, but I’d just like to run it by you.” With this line or something similar begin many of the calls handled by the Bar Council’s Ethical Enquiries Line. Perhaps this should not be surprising, as part of the purpose of the service is to provide a safety net for the profession, a sounding board if you like for barristers who find themselves in those knotty situations which clearly engage the Code of Conduct.  

A sortie into the outside world leads to questions about how to adapt to modern times 

September 10, 2011:  “Take care to get what you like or you will be forced to like what you get”
- George Bernard Shaw.

The life of a barrister can be self-absorbing. From the Temple we venture out to all points of the compass, meeting people from walks of life we would rarely, if ever, encounter in real life.

Law and Peace
by Tim Kevan
Bloomsbury, May 2011
£11.99 pp320

In the 1920’s, the Law Journal published a series of character-sketches of lawyers under the pseudonym “O”. These vignettes were eventually published as Forensic Fables and the author unveiled as Theo Mathew, son of Lord Justice Mathew and himself a Bencher of Lincoln’s Inn. The enduring popularity of Forensic Fables came from its recognisable and often affectionate caricatures. It is in this tradition that Tim Kevan gives us Law and Peace, the latest instalment in his BabyBarista series.