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Commission Conference on “A Single Market for Lawyers”
On 28 October, DG Internal Market of the European Commission is hosting a major conference for lawyers in the EU which will focus on the issues raised in / by the recent study (by the University of Maastricht and Panteia) on the operation of the EU legal framework applicable to lawyers, including the Establishment and Services directives. Further information, including on registration, is available at: http://bit.ly/1elSpTA. For the Panteia study on the ”Evaluation of the Legal Framework for the Free Movement of Lawyers“, see: http://bit.ly/19ZOOLt.
The executive summary can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/164XyMj.
EU Workshop at Annual BarConference, 2 November 2013
The Bar’s EU Law Committee, the European Circuit and the Bar European Group are co-organising a workshop at this year’s Bar Conference that will examine, from the point of view of the Bar, the impact of the UK’s uneasy relationship with the EU in the context of current developments such as the 2014 opt-out and the balance of competences review. The last two Annual Bar Conference EU workshops were a great success. For more details, see: http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/for-the-bar/conferences,-training-and-other....
Reminder – Bar Chairman to speak at major justice conference in Brussels
Earlier this year the European Commission published the fi rst Justice Scoreboard, which examines the justice systems across the Member States and seeks to identify the parameters that make for an effective justice system. As part of its ’Justice for Growth‘ strategy, the EU institutions will be looking not only at how to maximise the effectiveness of national systems in the coming years, but also at what else needs to be done in the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) fi eld at EU level.
To that end, the Commission is organizing a high level conference in Brussels on 21 and 22 November 2013, bringing together policy makers, members of the judiciary and the legal professions from the Member States, to debate future policy. The Chairman of the Bar is speaking on the panel about challenges and policy developments that might enhance mutual trust in the criminal justice fi eld. See: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/events/assises-justice-2013/index_en.htm
European Parliament workshop on Judicial training
The European Parliament’s (EP) Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) is holding a workshop entitled ’The training of legal practitioners: teaching EU law and judgecraft‘ on the morning of 28 November 2013 in Brussels. The workshop comprises two panel sessions; the fi rst looking at some best practices in the learning of, and access to, EU Law, and the second at improving mutual trust. Details will be available on the JURI website, at: http://bit.ly/13L2tib.
HMG’s Balance of Competences Review 2013 - 2014
The Government two-year-long, detailed review of who does what between the EU and the UK across the range of competences, which was launched in the summer 2012, is due to be completed at the end of next year. Each semester, HMG is publishing a set of calls for evidence on specifi c topics, based on which open-ended reports are published. The list and sequencing of reports is provided in a table, which is kept up-to-date, on the Foreign and Commonwealth Offi ce (FCO) website: https://www.gov.uk/review-of-the-balance-ofcompetences.
Note that all of the reports based on the responses to the fi rst semester calls are now available.
After careful consideration, the Bar has taken the policy decision to respond, so far as practicable in terms of time and resources, to the calls of particular and wide-ranging relevance to us, and with a focus on identifying legal issues. To date, the Bar has responded as a profession to two of the calls:
Lords inquiry on the content of the future EU JHA Work Programme
The EU institutions are starting work devising a new fi ve-year Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) work programme, covering the period 2015-2019, which will replace the Stockholm Programme 2009-2014. It is likely to be agreed under the Italian Presidency in late 2014, and accordingly is being dubbed the ‘Rome Programme’.
At the end of July, the House of Lords Home Affairs, Health & Education EU Sub-Committee launched an inquiry that considers the possible content of this new work programme, with a deadline for written evidence of 16 October 2013. The Bar hopes to respond; see: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select...
committee-f-/news/rome-cfe/.
European Public Prosecutor’s Office– proposal to create it adopted
The Commission’s proposal for a regulation setting up the EPPO was fi nally adopted in mid-July, with the aim of its being operational by 1 January 2015. The proposal emerged as part of a package of measures, which also included a proposal for a regulation on the reform of the European Union’s Agency for criminal justice cooperation (Eurojust) and a communication on the governance of the EU Anti-Fraud Offi ce (OLAF). As expected, the proposal is far-reaching in its ambition for the Offi ce, whilst relying heavily on the resources of the Member States. It also provides defence safeguards going beyond what is currently agreed at EU level.
See the proposal for a regulation creating the EPPO here: http://bit.ly/17E3psk, the proposal for regulation to reform EUROJUST here: http://bit.ly/14qavC5, and the complete package of measures here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/newsroom/criminal/news/130717_en.htm.
Protocol 36 to the Lisbon Treaty – the UK chooses to exercise the opt-out
Readers are aware of the background and issues involved in the decision that has to be taken before 1 June 2014, as to whether or not the UK will opt-out of a block of approximately 130 pre-Lisbon Treaty EU criminal justice measures; and if it does, whether and how it could opt back into some of them on an individual basis. The Bar was among many stakeholders who responded to the House of Lords’ EU Sub-Committees’ joint inquiry into the opt-out decision, which resulted in the House of Lords’ late April report, stating unequivocally that the government had not made its case for the opt-out. Since then however, both Houses have voted to support the government’s desired line, so it has formally notifi ed the Council of Ministers that the UK is invoking the Protocol 36 opt-out (see: http://bit.ly/15JbUxu) and indicated that it would provide a shopping-list of would-be opt-back-ins in the autumn. Work is now underway on that list, and the Bar will input when and where practicable.
Patents – proposed amendments to theBrussels I regulation
In late July, the Commission adopted a proposal (Procedure reference COD(2013)0268) to amendthe recast Brussels I regulation (Regulation 1215/2012) (itself the subject of a full revision during 2010-12) to clarify how its jurisdictional rules will work in the context of the Unifi ed PatentCourt, as well as how the rules of the Regulation should be applied in relations between the Member States which are Parties to the Unifi ed Patent Court Agreement and the Member States
not party to the Agreement. For the proposal, see: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/civil/files/com_2013_554_en.pdf.
Banking Union – Proposal for a resolution mechanism
The Commission has adopted its controversial proposal for a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) for the Banking Union. The mechanism is intended to complement the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) (IP/12/953) which, once operational (foreseen for late 2014), will see the European Central Bank (ECB) directly supervise banks in the euro area and in other Member States which decide to join the Banking Union.We will see what the other EU institutions make of it. For general information see: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/fi nances/bankingunion/index_en.htm.
Updating of EU and national trade mark laws
In late March 2013, the Commission adopted two related legislative proposals:
The idea is modernise the law in this area and bring it up to speed with recent business developments. The EP’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) has published a short appraisal of the Commission’s impact assessment behind the two proposals. See: http://bit.ly/1aTSVIL.
The EP’s Internal Market Committee has issued a draft opinion on each of the proposals, which make detailed suggestions for improvements, and can be seen at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/imco/draft-opinions.html#men....
Developments on these and other current issues are reported on in Brussels News, the regular newsletter of the Brussels Offi ce for members of the Bar of England & Wales. Please e-mail: evanna.fruithof@barcouncil.be for more information.
Evanna Fruithof
Consultant Director, Bar Council of England & Wales, Brussels Office
The executive summary can be viewed at: http://bit.ly/164XyMj.
EU Workshop at Annual BarConference, 2 November 2013
The Bar’s EU Law Committee, the European Circuit and the Bar European Group are co-organising a workshop at this year’s Bar Conference that will examine, from the point of view of the Bar, the impact of the UK’s uneasy relationship with the EU in the context of current developments such as the 2014 opt-out and the balance of competences review. The last two Annual Bar Conference EU workshops were a great success. For more details, see: http://www.barcouncil.org.uk/for-the-bar/conferences,-training-and-other....
Reminder – Bar Chairman to speak at major justice conference in Brussels
Earlier this year the European Commission published the fi rst Justice Scoreboard, which examines the justice systems across the Member States and seeks to identify the parameters that make for an effective justice system. As part of its ’Justice for Growth‘ strategy, the EU institutions will be looking not only at how to maximise the effectiveness of national systems in the coming years, but also at what else needs to be done in the Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) fi eld at EU level.
To that end, the Commission is organizing a high level conference in Brussels on 21 and 22 November 2013, bringing together policy makers, members of the judiciary and the legal professions from the Member States, to debate future policy. The Chairman of the Bar is speaking on the panel about challenges and policy developments that might enhance mutual trust in the criminal justice fi eld. See: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/events/assises-justice-2013/index_en.htm
European Parliament workshop on Judicial training
The European Parliament’s (EP) Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) is holding a workshop entitled ’The training of legal practitioners: teaching EU law and judgecraft‘ on the morning of 28 November 2013 in Brussels. The workshop comprises two panel sessions; the fi rst looking at some best practices in the learning of, and access to, EU Law, and the second at improving mutual trust. Details will be available on the JURI website, at: http://bit.ly/13L2tib.
HMG’s Balance of Competences Review 2013 - 2014
The Government two-year-long, detailed review of who does what between the EU and the UK across the range of competences, which was launched in the summer 2012, is due to be completed at the end of next year. Each semester, HMG is publishing a set of calls for evidence on specifi c topics, based on which open-ended reports are published. The list and sequencing of reports is provided in a table, which is kept up-to-date, on the Foreign and Commonwealth Offi ce (FCO) website: https://www.gov.uk/review-of-the-balance-ofcompetences.
Note that all of the reports based on the responses to the fi rst semester calls are now available.
After careful consideration, the Bar has taken the policy decision to respond, so far as practicable in terms of time and resources, to the calls of particular and wide-ranging relevance to us, and with a focus on identifying legal issues. To date, the Bar has responded as a profession to two of the calls:
Lords inquiry on the content of the future EU JHA Work Programme
The EU institutions are starting work devising a new fi ve-year Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) work programme, covering the period 2015-2019, which will replace the Stockholm Programme 2009-2014. It is likely to be agreed under the Italian Presidency in late 2014, and accordingly is being dubbed the ‘Rome Programme’.
At the end of July, the House of Lords Home Affairs, Health & Education EU Sub-Committee launched an inquiry that considers the possible content of this new work programme, with a deadline for written evidence of 16 October 2013. The Bar hopes to respond; see: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/lords-select...
committee-f-/news/rome-cfe/.
European Public Prosecutor’s Office– proposal to create it adopted
The Commission’s proposal for a regulation setting up the EPPO was fi nally adopted in mid-July, with the aim of its being operational by 1 January 2015. The proposal emerged as part of a package of measures, which also included a proposal for a regulation on the reform of the European Union’s Agency for criminal justice cooperation (Eurojust) and a communication on the governance of the EU Anti-Fraud Offi ce (OLAF). As expected, the proposal is far-reaching in its ambition for the Offi ce, whilst relying heavily on the resources of the Member States. It also provides defence safeguards going beyond what is currently agreed at EU level.
See the proposal for a regulation creating the EPPO here: http://bit.ly/17E3psk, the proposal for regulation to reform EUROJUST here: http://bit.ly/14qavC5, and the complete package of measures here: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/newsroom/criminal/news/130717_en.htm.
Protocol 36 to the Lisbon Treaty – the UK chooses to exercise the opt-out
Readers are aware of the background and issues involved in the decision that has to be taken before 1 June 2014, as to whether or not the UK will opt-out of a block of approximately 130 pre-Lisbon Treaty EU criminal justice measures; and if it does, whether and how it could opt back into some of them on an individual basis. The Bar was among many stakeholders who responded to the House of Lords’ EU Sub-Committees’ joint inquiry into the opt-out decision, which resulted in the House of Lords’ late April report, stating unequivocally that the government had not made its case for the opt-out. Since then however, both Houses have voted to support the government’s desired line, so it has formally notifi ed the Council of Ministers that the UK is invoking the Protocol 36 opt-out (see: http://bit.ly/15JbUxu) and indicated that it would provide a shopping-list of would-be opt-back-ins in the autumn. Work is now underway on that list, and the Bar will input when and where practicable.
Patents – proposed amendments to theBrussels I regulation
In late July, the Commission adopted a proposal (Procedure reference COD(2013)0268) to amendthe recast Brussels I regulation (Regulation 1215/2012) (itself the subject of a full revision during 2010-12) to clarify how its jurisdictional rules will work in the context of the Unifi ed PatentCourt, as well as how the rules of the Regulation should be applied in relations between the Member States which are Parties to the Unifi ed Patent Court Agreement and the Member States
not party to the Agreement. For the proposal, see: http://ec.europa.eu/justice/civil/files/com_2013_554_en.pdf.
Banking Union – Proposal for a resolution mechanism
The Commission has adopted its controversial proposal for a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) for the Banking Union. The mechanism is intended to complement the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) (IP/12/953) which, once operational (foreseen for late 2014), will see the European Central Bank (ECB) directly supervise banks in the euro area and in other Member States which decide to join the Banking Union.We will see what the other EU institutions make of it. For general information see: http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/fi nances/bankingunion/index_en.htm.
Updating of EU and national trade mark laws
In late March 2013, the Commission adopted two related legislative proposals:
The idea is modernise the law in this area and bring it up to speed with recent business developments. The EP’s Legal Affairs Committee (JURI) has published a short appraisal of the Commission’s impact assessment behind the two proposals. See: http://bit.ly/1aTSVIL.
The EP’s Internal Market Committee has issued a draft opinion on each of the proposals, which make detailed suggestions for improvements, and can be seen at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/imco/draft-opinions.html#men....
Developments on these and other current issues are reported on in Brussels News, the regular newsletter of the Brussels Offi ce for members of the Bar of England & Wales. Please e-mail: evanna.fruithof@barcouncil.be for more information.
Evanna Fruithof
Consultant Director, Bar Council of England & Wales, Brussels Office
Commission Conference on “A Single Market for Lawyers”
On 28 October, DG Internal Market of the European Commission is hosting a major conference for lawyers in the EU which will focus on the issues raised in / by the recent study (by the University of Maastricht and Panteia) on the operation of the EU legal framework applicable to lawyers, including the Establishment and Services directives. Further information, including on registration, is available at: http://bit.ly/1elSpTA. For the Panteia study on the ”Evaluation of the Legal Framework for the Free Movement of Lawyers“, see: http://bit.ly/19ZOOLt.
Sam Townend KC explains the Bar Council’s efforts towards ensuring a bright future for the profession
Giovanni D’Avola explores the issue of over-citation of unreported cases and the ‘added value’ elements of a law report
Louise Crush explores the key points and opportunities for tax efficiency
Westgate Wealth Management Ltd is a Partner Practice of FTSE 100 company St. James’s Place – one of the top UK Wealth Management firms. We offer a holistic service of distinct quality, integrity, and excellence with the aim to build a professional and valuable relationship with our clients, helping to provide them with security now, prosperity in the future and the highest standard of service in all of our dealings.
Is now the time to review your financial position, having reached a career milestone? asks Louise Crush
If you were to host a dinner party with 10 guests, and you asked them to explain what financial planning is and how it differs to financial advice, you’d receive 10 different answers. The variety of answers highlights the ongoing need to clarify and promote the value of financial planning.
On the 50th anniversary of the pub bombings, even now it is still unresolved. Chris Mullin, the journalist and former MP who led the campaign leading to the release of the Birmingham Six, looks back at events
Adele Akers’ reflections on health and wellbeing support at the very junior end of the Bar
Not one to say, ‘I told you so,’ Sam Thomas continues his cyber series with the key learnings from the major supply chain attack affecting 80 law firms and at least one set of chambers at the end of 2023
One year on and the Court of Appeal fails to quash convictions after receiving evidence of racism in the jury room, and there are still no revisions to the Equal Treatment Bench Book , says Keir Monteith KC
Most of us like to think we would risk our career in order to meet our ethical obligations, so why have so many lawyers failed to hold the line? asks Flora Page
