Features

The Human Rights Act should not be viewed as a burden, but promoted as an instrument of social cohesion and public purpose, argues Keir Starmer QC.  

The Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) is a very simple statute. 

Anthony Inglese explains how chambers could benefit from the lens of a critical friend.  

It would be good for chambers, and also for the reputation of the Bar, if some forward-thinking sets would take the lead in each appointing a couple of “critical friends” on a part-time basis to sit on their most significant committees and be part of their governance. 

The Ministry of Justice was subjected to an uncomfortable public grilling on civil legal aid by the Public Accounts Committee, reports Mark Hatcher.  

When US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld answered a journalist’s question in 2002 about the lack of evidence linking the government of Iraq with the supply of weapons of mass destruction to terrorist groups he replied: “Reports that say that something hasn’t happened are always interesting to me, because as we know, there are known knowns; there are things we know we know. 

You can “change, adapt and thrive” as a barrister-led, BSB-regulated entity under a new regime launching this January, suggests Oliver Hanmer.  

It is something of a cliché to use the words “a rapidly changing profession”; to describe the “ever-evolving environment” in which the Bar operates; to note that the legal services market is “undergoing unprecedented change”, as if few had noticed. 

Job title 

Head of Chambers, Ely Place Chambers 

Ely Place Chambers is a leading set specialising in Commercial and Chancery, Employment, Media, Personal Injury, Prison, Police & Healthcare, Property, Public & Regulatory work. 

Dominic Regan and Sean Jones QC explore the wines around for Christmas in tough times.  

“I accept at once that we are living in times of austerity” – Lord Justice Jackson, 30 September 2014. 

With commemorations of the First World War under way it seems fitting to remember a remarkable pacifist, barrister and feminist, Chrystal Macmillan.   

Celia Pilkington and Harini Iyengar explain. 

In February 2015 the Global Law Summit to celebrate 800 years since Magna Carta takes place in London.   

Chairman-Elect of the Bar Council Alistair MacDonald QC explains. 

The Young Bar conference took place on 18 October.  

YBC Chairman, Max Hardy, reports back. 

As part of the July 14 reshuffle, the then Attorney General Dominic Grieve QC was replaced.  

The post went to criminal barrister and Conservative MP Jeremy Wright, who talks to Chris McWatters about his new role.