*/
New Bar Council chair Desmond Browne has challenged the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, over the increasing share of available work taken in-house by the CPS.
“The CPS needs to demonstrate that when proper account is taken of all their overheads, it really is cheaper than instructing the self-employed Bar. So far, we have not seen the figures...in the spirit of open government, I would invite them to produce the data and the calculations.”
Browne also reinforced the Bar’s opposition to hourly rates for publicly funded barristers in criminal trials, in his inaugural speech last month.
“Super-human efforts” were required to have a new Very High Cost Criminal Cases scheme outlined and ready for consultation by the New Year if it were to be in place by the time the existing one expires on 13 July 2009. In order to convince barristers that the scheme is workable it must be one that “rewards the efficient and the expeditious, rather than those who merely clock up the largest number of hours,” he said.
“The CPS needs to demonstrate that when proper account is taken of all their overheads, it really is cheaper than instructing the self-employed Bar. So far, we have not seen the figures...in the spirit of open government, I would invite them to produce the data and the calculations.”
Browne also reinforced the Bar’s opposition to hourly rates for publicly funded barristers in criminal trials, in his inaugural speech last month.
“Super-human efforts” were required to have a new Very High Cost Criminal Cases scheme outlined and ready for consultation by the New Year if it were to be in place by the time the existing one expires on 13 July 2009. In order to convince barristers that the scheme is workable it must be one that “rewards the efficient and the expeditious, rather than those who merely clock up the largest number of hours,” he said.
New Bar Council chair Desmond Browne has challenged the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer QC, over the increasing share of available work taken in-house by the CPS.
Justice system requires urgent attention and next steps on the Harman Review
Q&A with Tim Lynch of Jordan Lynch Private Finance
By Marie Law, Director of Toxicology at AlphaBiolabs
By Louise Crush of Westgate Wealth Management
Why Virtual Assistants Can Meet the Legal Profession’s Exacting Standards
Despite increased awareness, why are AI hallucinations continuing to infiltrate court cases at an alarming rate? Matthew Lee investigates
Many disabled barristers face entrenched obstacles to KC appointment – both procedural and systemic, writes Diego F Soto-Miranda
The proscribing of Palestine Action under the Terrorism Act is an assault on the English language and on civil liberties, argues Paul Harris SC, founder of the Bar Human Rights Committee
For over three decades, the Bar Mock Trial Competition has boosted the skills, knowledge and confidence of tens of thousands of state school students – as sixth-form teacher Conor Duffy and Young Citizens’ Akasa Pradhan report
Suzie Miller’s latest play puts the legal system centre stage once more. Will it galvanise change? asks Rehna Azim
