*/
As the Northern Powerhouse gets a rebrand and Number 10 is reset, I have written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging the government to also reset its pursuit of curtailment of jury trials. The Justice Select Committee is the latest respected body to give a clear-eyed conclusion that there are significant flaws in the last administration’s proposal, not least because it ‘lacks a concrete evidential basis’ (Courts and Tribunals Bill, First Report of Session 2026–27).
We welcome the new Lord Chancellor, Alex Norris MP, who we had the pleasure of taking to Nottingham Crown Court earlier in the year, and the Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC MP and Solicitor General Andy Slaughter MP. I also have written to congratulate Catherine McKinnell MP and the returners to the Ministry of Justice, Sarah Sackman KC MP, Jake Richards MP and Alex Davies-Jones MP. In the House of Lords, we send thanks for the work of Baroness Levitt KC and also welcome Lord Lemos CMG CBE.
It is a fresh start, as well as a continuation of development of the policies that the Bar Council supports, including increasing legal aid and so access to justice, tackling violence against women and girls, strengthening diversity and inclusion, and rebuilding strong partnerships with European courts and legal professionals.
I am pleased to report that there now is movement to increase criminal legal aid (Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS)). Firstly, there was an ‘underspend’ in the 2022-25 spending review relating to the September 2022 deal between the Criminal Bar Association, the Bar Council and the Ministry of Justice. I have driven representations on the deficit, supported by the Bar Council Remuneration Committee, and the result is the laying of a statutory instrument which came into force on 28 July 2026 – the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026.
This provides a modest increase to the level and application of the fixed fee. Importantly, it reduces the trial length from five days to two under which barristers can make a claim for wasted preparation. The latter should assist the junior Bar and the change is permanent.
Secondly, the consultation on the ‘up to £34 million (incl VAT)’ investment in AGFS announced by the then Deputy Prime Minister on 2 December 2025, finally has been published. The Bar Council will respond in detail to the consultation, setting out those targeted measures which are necessary and those which are misplaced.
A meeting on family legal aid is to be scheduled with the relevant minister in September, having been agreed at a meeting with Sarah Sackman, and I and the Bar Council are supporting Leslie Samuels KC and Lucy Reed KC, Chair and Vice Chair of the Family Law Bar Association, including in a pre-meeting with Ministry of Justice officials.
We have published our first report on the data collected from barristers’ reports of PECS/prison delays in the courts. Please do keep reporting. Hopefully, it has a wellbeing side effect of channelling that frustration felt at the cell door.
I spoke in a webinar on Article 6 ECHR, hosted by Inner Temple, alongside Professor Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos and also in the Europe Webinar on the relationship between judges and lawyers, hosted by the Milan Bar and alongside other European Bars. I visited the Court of Justice of the European Union, alongside the Bar Council’s Director of Policy, Philip Robertson, at the invitation of Advocate General, Andrea Biondi.
The Chair of the Young Barristers’ Committee, Amelia Clegg, successfully led our delegation to the 60-year-old Anglo-Dutch Exchange. The inclusion of legal services in free trade agreements, as well as fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) arbitrations, remain in focus. The latest Swiss trade deal is welcomed.
I was delighted to speak at Kate Osamor MP’s summer school in Parliament, at the Bar Placement Scheme and at the PowerUp Fest. Remember to take Speak for Success materials to your local state primary schools. To mangle an Oasis lyric, maybe we all just want to fly.
It also is a time to pause to remember those at the Bar that we have lost. Two barristers who have been part of my own Bar family since the 1990s are Richard Wormald KC and Graham Trembath KC. They were the best of us, and we send condolences to their families and friends.
Thank you to all the Bar for the events and gatherings that I have been invited to over the summer. We are here to represent you all and the door always is open. Look after yourselves, switch off the emails, and enjoy a break.
Kirsty Brimelow KC is Chair of the Bar for 2026. She has been a criminal, public law and international human rights barrister for some 30 years, practising from Doughty Street Chambers for over half that time. Kirsty was Chair of the Criminal Bar Association (2022-23) and Chair of the Bar Human Rights Committee (2012-18). She was appointed as a silk in 2011, Deputy High Court Judge in 2021, Recorder in 2022 and is a Bencher of Gray’s Inn.
As the Northern Powerhouse gets a rebrand and Number 10 is reset, I have written to Prime Minister Andy Burnham urging the government to also reset its pursuit of curtailment of jury trials. The Justice Select Committee is the latest respected body to give a clear-eyed conclusion that there are significant flaws in the last administration’s proposal, not least because it ‘lacks a concrete evidential basis’ (Courts and Tribunals Bill, First Report of Session 2026–27).
We welcome the new Lord Chancellor, Alex Norris MP, who we had the pleasure of taking to Nottingham Crown Court earlier in the year, and the Attorney General Ellie Reeves KC MP and Solicitor General Andy Slaughter MP. I also have written to congratulate Catherine McKinnell MP and the returners to the Ministry of Justice, Sarah Sackman KC MP, Jake Richards MP and Alex Davies-Jones MP. In the House of Lords, we send thanks for the work of Baroness Levitt KC and also welcome Lord Lemos CMG CBE.
It is a fresh start, as well as a continuation of development of the policies that the Bar Council supports, including increasing legal aid and so access to justice, tackling violence against women and girls, strengthening diversity and inclusion, and rebuilding strong partnerships with European courts and legal professionals.
I am pleased to report that there now is movement to increase criminal legal aid (Advocates’ Graduated Fee Scheme (AGFS)). Firstly, there was an ‘underspend’ in the 2022-25 spending review relating to the September 2022 deal between the Criminal Bar Association, the Bar Council and the Ministry of Justice. I have driven representations on the deficit, supported by the Bar Council Remuneration Committee, and the result is the laying of a statutory instrument which came into force on 28 July 2026 – the Criminal Legal Aid (Remuneration) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2026.
This provides a modest increase to the level and application of the fixed fee. Importantly, it reduces the trial length from five days to two under which barristers can make a claim for wasted preparation. The latter should assist the junior Bar and the change is permanent.
Secondly, the consultation on the ‘up to £34 million (incl VAT)’ investment in AGFS announced by the then Deputy Prime Minister on 2 December 2025, finally has been published. The Bar Council will respond in detail to the consultation, setting out those targeted measures which are necessary and those which are misplaced.
A meeting on family legal aid is to be scheduled with the relevant minister in September, having been agreed at a meeting with Sarah Sackman, and I and the Bar Council are supporting Leslie Samuels KC and Lucy Reed KC, Chair and Vice Chair of the Family Law Bar Association, including in a pre-meeting with Ministry of Justice officials.
We have published our first report on the data collected from barristers’ reports of PECS/prison delays in the courts. Please do keep reporting. Hopefully, it has a wellbeing side effect of channelling that frustration felt at the cell door.
I spoke in a webinar on Article 6 ECHR, hosted by Inner Temple, alongside Professor Dimitrios Giannoulopoulos and also in the Europe Webinar on the relationship between judges and lawyers, hosted by the Milan Bar and alongside other European Bars. I visited the Court of Justice of the European Union, alongside the Bar Council’s Director of Policy, Philip Robertson, at the invitation of Advocate General, Andrea Biondi.
The Chair of the Young Barristers’ Committee, Amelia Clegg, successfully led our delegation to the 60-year-old Anglo-Dutch Exchange. The inclusion of legal services in free trade agreements, as well as fly-in, fly-out (FIFO) arbitrations, remain in focus. The latest Swiss trade deal is welcomed.
I was delighted to speak at Kate Osamor MP’s summer school in Parliament, at the Bar Placement Scheme and at the PowerUp Fest. Remember to take Speak for Success materials to your local state primary schools. To mangle an Oasis lyric, maybe we all just want to fly.
It also is a time to pause to remember those at the Bar that we have lost. Two barristers who have been part of my own Bar family since the 1990s are Richard Wormald KC and Graham Trembath KC. They were the best of us, and we send condolences to their families and friends.
Thank you to all the Bar for the events and gatherings that I have been invited to over the summer. We are here to represent you all and the door always is open. Look after yourselves, switch off the emails, and enjoy a break.
Update from the Chair of 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
The Chief Legal Officer to the Metropolitan Police, barrister Brett Welch, tells Anthony Inglese CB about his mission and the work to turn the Met around
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
Grok around and find out – or not? Mariya Peykova investigates the nudification scandal, what the law has to say about sexually explicit deepfakes, and whether stronger regulation is needed
Oliver Lewis spotlights an overlooked yet rapidly evolving area of law – coercive and controlling behaviour within care contexts
For one night only at Middle Temple Hall (Sunday 26 July 2026) – Abigail Bright introduces the famed annual fundraising theatrical event. This year, Martin Shaw and Jason Watkins perform John Mortimer’s The Dock Brief, a mixture of farce and pathos and all in support of the work of the Kalisher Trust in its 30th year
