Features

Weaknesses, observations and remedies – how to fix legal aid? A call for evidence from the Lord Chancellor’s Advisory Council Chair Gary Bell QC  

On 28 January 2016, the Lord Chancellor, Michael Gove, abandoned plans to impose dual or two-tier contracts.  

Words sometimes really will hurt you  

‘Thou art a boil, a plague sore, an embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood’ – King Lear, William Shakespeare 

Catherine Baksi considers whether lawyers, judges, courts and clients are ready for a digital revolution, the drivers for change, and impact on access to justice  

Bulging briefs tied with yards of pink tape and clerks struggling to control errant trollies laden with storage boxes containing dozens of lever arch files – this traditional view of English courts business is to be confined to the history books. 

Jess Campbell reports on the joined-up efforts of the pro bono community to meet the mammoth post-LASPO upsurge in litigants in person  

I am delighted to report that 52% of the Bar donated £30 to the Bar Pro Bono Unit (the Unit) through the authorisation to practise process, which concluded in April. 

Editors: Pamela Radcliffe, Gisli Gudjonsson CBE, Anthony Heaton-Armstrong and David Wolchover
Publisher: Oxford University Press (2016)
RRP: £59.95
ISBN: 9780199672936 

As the nation readies itself to vote on Europe, Mark Hatcher considers the diminishing trust in the political class and steadying influence of the select committee  

I am writing this column six days before the EU referendum – such is the publisher’s immutable deadline.  

Is the Bar doing enough to help protect barristers’ wellbeing? Grania Langdon-Down investigates the initiatives for change   

With the launch in May of a cross-profession taskforce to support mental health and wellbeing in the legal community, is the Bar doing enough to help protect barristers? 

Derek Wood CBE QC updates readers on the launch of the COIC’s new education initiative for the Bar – the Inns of Court College of Advocacy – which will expand on the ATC’s role as advocacy training provider and think tank  

On 13 June the Council of the Inns of Court (COIC) officially launches its new Inns of Court College of Advocacy (ICCA).  

Laura Hoyano provides a refresher on the barrister’s rule of independence in response to the Home Secretary’s proffered ‘deal’ to human rights lawyers  

Home Secretary Theresa May has been vocal over recent months on immigration and human rights laws, most recently arguing in April that Britain should leave the European Convention on Human Rights.  

Anthony Inglese CB meets the government’s most senior legal official, Treasury Solicitor Jonathan Jones, for an insight into his role and the application of law in the political context  

‘Government wants to do whatever’s possible to achieve its aims within the rule of law – and will push at the limits, as it has every right to do,’ explains Jonathan Jones, the lawyer who advises the pinnacle of government.