*/
Plans to extend court sittings will disadvantage parents and affect women the most, the Bar Council has warned.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) announced a pilot initiative to introduce extra sittings at six courts, for six months from May. Crown courts will be open until 6pm, civil courts until 7pm and magistrates’ courts until 8.30pm.
Chairman of the Bar, Andrew Langdon QC, said: ‘These arrangements will make it almost impossible for parents with childcare responsibilities to predict if they can make the school run or to know when they will be able to pick children up from the child-minders. The biggest impact will be on women.’
He said: ‘Childcare responsibilities still fall disproportionately to women, many of whom do not return to the profession after having children. It is hard to see how these plans sit with the government’s commitment to improving diversity in the profession and the judiciary.’
Measures, he said, were needed to help women stay in the profession, rather than making it even more difficult to be a mother and a barrister at the same time.
Langdon said the plans also fail to take account of rules that self-employed barristers must follow when organising their work. He urged HMCTS to ensure that the impact on parents, and women in particular, is built into the evaluation criteria used to test the success of the pilots.
Plans to extend court sittings will disadvantage parents and affect women the most, the Bar Council has warned.
HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) announced a pilot initiative to introduce extra sittings at six courts, for six months from May. Crown courts will be open until 6pm, civil courts until 7pm and magistrates’ courts until 8.30pm.
Chairman of the Bar, Andrew Langdon QC, said: ‘These arrangements will make it almost impossible for parents with childcare responsibilities to predict if they can make the school run or to know when they will be able to pick children up from the child-minders. The biggest impact will be on women.’
He said: ‘Childcare responsibilities still fall disproportionately to women, many of whom do not return to the profession after having children. It is hard to see how these plans sit with the government’s commitment to improving diversity in the profession and the judiciary.’
Measures, he said, were needed to help women stay in the profession, rather than making it even more difficult to be a mother and a barrister at the same time.
Langdon said the plans also fail to take account of rules that self-employed barristers must follow when organising their work. He urged HMCTS to ensure that the impact on parents, and women in particular, is built into the evaluation criteria used to test the success of the pilots.
In this month’s column, Chair of the Bar Sam Townend KC highlights the many reasons why barristers should pay the Bar Representation Fee and back the Bar Council’s efforts on behalf of the profession
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.
Leading legal DNA, drug, and alcohol testing provider AlphaBiolabs has made its first Giving Back charity draw of 2024 with Andrew Sibson, a Legal Officer at Leeds City Council, being chosen as its first winner
Discover Lloyd’s unique approach to financial planning and experience working with barristers
Trust Delaunay Wealth to stand by your side amid the uncertainties ahead, writes Lloyd French
Lighting fires that cast unfairness into the shadows, creating history at home and abroad, and being comfortable with who you are – the remarkable criminal and international human rights barrister Kirsty Brimelow KC
Marking International Women's Day, Will Tyler KC interviews two female silks at the helm of two huge specialist Bar associations about their lives and careers – finding a common theme both to their success and the challenges facing their respective Bars
No longer an exclusive boys’ club, but still some way to go. To mark International Women's Day, Millie Rai describes what it’s like being a young female barrister at the Commercial Chancery Bar
If we fail to nurture women’s collective talent, half the population of this country will not be properly represented – from the junior Criminal Bar right up to the senior Judiciary. We cannot let all the hard work be undone, says Tana Adkin KC on International Women's Day
In this month’s column, Chair of the Bar Sam Townend KC highlights the many reasons why barristers should pay the Bar Representation Fee and back the Bar Council’s efforts on behalf of the profession