Features

Andrew Johnston explains how the temporary pension relaxations under the Finance Act 2014 – which close on 5 April 2015 – apply to soon-to-be retirees.  

Looking back to December 2002, HM Treasury and the Inland Revenue (now HM Revenue & Customs) issued the consultation document Simplifying the taxation of pensions, increasing choice and flexibility for all. 

Can the International Criminal Court start prosecuting for the use and supply of chemical weapons? Sheryn Omeri considers the ICC’s options.  

The centenary of the start of World War I reminded us that it will soon be the centenary of the use of poison gas in international warfare. 

HH Gordon Risius explains how hearing loss – never a good career move for a judge – didn’t have to mean the sudden end of his time on the Bench.  

Last June’s issue of Counsel contained a helpful article by Sukhveer Kandola and Narita Bahra about court users with hearing difficulties, in which they drew attention to facilities which can help access justice (June 2014, p30). 

Too many cases, too few resources and no room for complacency – John Curtis reports on the Criminal Cases Review Commission state of play.  

21 November 2014 marked the 40th anniversary of the Birmingham Pub Bombings: a chain of events that led to the deaths of 21 people, 182 serious woundings, the incarceration of the Birmingham Six, their release from prison some 19 years later and the recognition that miscarriages of justice were a reality of Britain’s justice system. 

Celebrate the reach of the Rule of Law at the Global Law Summit, a world-class debate, discussion and networking opportunity, writes the Rt Hon Dominic Grieve QC MP.  

There are few areas where Britain is stronger than in the law. London, and in particular the City of London, has been recognised across the world for many centuries as a centre of trade, commerce and finance. 

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.