Features

Nigel Pascoe QC raises his glass to celebrate Counsel's 25th anniversary 

And so, dear reader, which is it to be: a magnum of champagne or a small glass of dry sherry to celebrate a modest achievement?  Probably somewhere between the two .  Counsel has reached its 25th birthday in reasonable shape with a continuing selection of readable articles and more friends than implacable enemies.  Let that not sound too complacent.  There will always be angry readers believing, as with Punch, that it is not the magazine they remember.  In a sense they are quite right.  Counsel continues to evolve, but a discernable independent spirit still exists which continues to mirror the extraordinary panorama of the practicing and employed bar. 

Position: Barrister
Chambers: Brick Court Chambers 

The presumption against short prison sentences in Scotland could provide lessons for south of the border, says Dr Sarah Armstrong 

On the very same day in June 2010 that the Lord Chancellor Kenneth Clarke QC MP argued for fewer short prison sentences in England and Wales, the Scottish Parliament passed a law to do just that. The Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 creates a presumption against prison sentences of three months or less, culminating a major effort to reform the use of imprisonment here. 

Gavin Purves explains why Counsel was established and charts its development 

John Cooper QC wonders whether a compartmentalised subject-specific approach to sentencing policy has contributed to the public’s lack of confidence in the regime. Sentencing tariffs should be consistent and comparable with each other, he believes 

Name: Julie Cave
Position: Managing Director
Company: Credit Management (Law) Ltd 

Lord Justice Sedley reviews three books on the topic of international law and piracy.  

Among the casualties of warfare during the last hundred years have been many of the rules governing the conduct of hostilities. The Hague and Geneva Conventions describe the members of warring States’ armies and militias as “lawful combatants”. The reason they contain no category of “unlawful combatant” is that no such antithesis is recognised in international law. The counterpart of the lawful combatant is the civilian, who is entitled to the ordinary protection of the law. 

Kathryn Stone OBE and Professor Karen Bryan offer advice on identifying and communicating with witnesses with learning difficulties    

John Kampfner sums up the current arguments on libel law reform 

Paul Farrelly, the Labour MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme, is what Tony Blair might have called a feral beast turned hunted prey. A former reporter, he opted for politics in 2001. Since then he has been a doughty human rights campaigner. It was his question to the Justice Secretary in October 2009 about the injunction obtained following publication of the Minton Report on the dumping by Trafigura of toxic waste in the Ivory Coast which brought home to Parliament the activities of claimant legal firms in getting “super-injunctions”. 

Tony Shaw QC and Clive Freedman discuss the draft Guidelines on Information Security and Government Work