*/
Profession
Regulators should be led by lay chairs because their “mindset can still be too closely tied to, and concerned with, the individual branches of the profession”, despite the physical separation of their representative and regulatory arms, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has claimed.
Its proposal is to amend the internal governance rules to require that the chairs of the boards of the regulatory arms of each approved regulator be a lay person.
Announcing the consultation, Chairman of the LSB, David Edmonds, cautioned that “overly strong ties to the history, culture and rules of professional self-regulation may well have a negative impact on modernisation and independence”.
“Chairs of Boards not in any way tied to the profession is in line with good practice – the 2007 Act stipulates that my post must be held by a lay person – and is a logical next step in internal governance,” he advised. “This proposal is not intended as a criticism of any current or past Chair,” he added.
Responding to news of the consultation, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) said that it “has had a lay majority since January 2012” and “is committed to keeping this”. The spokesperson said that the BSB “currently appoints its Chair on merit, without reference to the need to hold or not to hold a legal qualification,” and added: “we will, as usual, engage constructively with the LSB consultation.”
The BSB Chair, Baroness Deech, comes to the end of her maximum two terms of office at the end of 2014, and applications for a new Chair will open in spring next year.
LSB Chair David Edmonds’ own tenure ends in April 2014, and applications for the £63,000 a year post (for a minimum of 70 days per year) close on 8 November. The Lord Chancellor is looking for “a lay Chair who is passionate about creating an environment in which regulation is as light touch as possible”, “innovative, persuasive”, with “the ability to challenge existing assumptions” and “the commitment and skills to turn those ideas into successful change”.
The consultation closes on 19 November
Its proposal is to amend the internal governance rules to require that the chairs of the boards of the regulatory arms of each approved regulator be a lay person.
Announcing the consultation, Chairman of the LSB, David Edmonds, cautioned that “overly strong ties to the history, culture and rules of professional self-regulation may well have a negative impact on modernisation and independence”.
“Chairs of Boards not in any way tied to the profession is in line with good practice – the 2007 Act stipulates that my post must be held by a lay person – and is a logical next step in internal governance,” he advised. “This proposal is not intended as a criticism of any current or past Chair,” he added.
Responding to news of the consultation, the Bar Standards Board (BSB) said that it “has had a lay majority since January 2012” and “is committed to keeping this”. The spokesperson said that the BSB “currently appoints its Chair on merit, without reference to the need to hold or not to hold a legal qualification,” and added: “we will, as usual, engage constructively with the LSB consultation.”
The BSB Chair, Baroness Deech, comes to the end of her maximum two terms of office at the end of 2014, and applications for a new Chair will open in spring next year.
LSB Chair David Edmonds’ own tenure ends in April 2014, and applications for the £63,000 a year post (for a minimum of 70 days per year) close on 8 November. The Lord Chancellor is looking for “a lay Chair who is passionate about creating an environment in which regulation is as light touch as possible”, “innovative, persuasive”, with “the ability to challenge existing assumptions” and “the commitment and skills to turn those ideas into successful change”.
The consultation closes on 19 November
Profession
Regulators should be led by lay chairs because their “mindset can still be too closely tied to, and concerned with, the individual branches of the profession”, despite the physical separation of their representative and regulatory arms, the Legal Services Board (LSB) has claimed.
The age of criminal responsibility, extreme weather and conflict resolution – plus, new protocol for reporting bullying at the Bar
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Unlocking your aged debt to fund your tax in one easy step. By Philip N Bristow
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, discusses the upcoming changes to pensions and Inheritance Tax and the potential impact on your financial future
Save the Children UK is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
Barrister apprenticeships – shortly to provide the fourth pathway to the Bar – are an ideal opportunity to support local talent and ‘grow your own’, say Tim Coulson and Dr Jane Dennehy
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
Solicitor General Ellie Reeves KC MP discusses her decade as a trade union and employment law barrister, the demands of life as a Law Officer and the number one priority shaping her work. Interview by Anthony Inglese CB
A decade of reviews and research has disrupted accepted thinking in the search for causality. Suicides following abuse have overtaken domestic homicides. Is the law keeping up? Professor Susan Edwards KC (Hon) examines recent cases and the obstacles to successful prosecution
At least not that way, says Richard Paige
