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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.
Far-ranging month for the Chair of the Bar
Endometriosis Awareness North, a charity raising awareness of endometriosis and supporting those affected across the North of England, has received a £500 boost from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs, examines the most recent data on alcohol misuse in the UK, and the implications for alcohol testing in family proceedings
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how tailored financial planning can help barristers take control of their finances and plan with confidence
Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
A £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs has been made to the leading UK charity tackling international parental child abduction and the movement of children across international borders
Heritage as an anchor and a compass, finding our common humanity and embracing the power of the outsider – Melina Antoniadis’s lessons learnt
Is the Judicial Conduct Investigations Office process fit for purpose? Women barristers’ experiences of bullying are not being reported or, if they are, they are not making it through the system, says Tana Adkin KC
Review by Daniel Barnett
Chair of the Bar reports back
The client’s best interests could be well-served by sharing the advocacy with junior counsel more often than you might think – Naomi Cunningham and Charlotte Eves explore some less orthodox ways to divide the speaking role
