Features

Dear Editor 

The July 2009 edition of Counsel published an article entitled “Since you pay for it....” (pp 14-16) about the cover that Bar Mutual offers for disciplinary complaints to the Bar Standards Board. Unfortunately, Bar Mutual’s address as published in text box “Support and Assistance” was incorrect. We are now at 90 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 4ST. 

The Qatar Law Forum in May 2009 brought together global leaders in law to mark a shared commitment to the rule of law, reports Khadija Ali.  

The Qatar Law Forum took place in Doha from 29 to 31 May 2009 under the patronage of His Highness the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. 

The Qatar Law Forum in May 2009 brought together global leaders in law to mark a shared commitment to the rule of law, reports Khadija Ali.  

The Qatar Law Forum took place in Doha from 29 to 31 May 2009 under the patronage of His Highness the Emir of the State of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani. 

What happens when the judiciary in young democracies seeks to apply result-orientated judgments to the emotional evaluation of a particular case? South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal has had to deal with two such cases. David Wurtzel reports on Mr Justice Harms’ speech to CEBA.  

When does judging become irrational? When it reaches a conclusion and then looks for the reasons to justify it. On 8 June Mr Justice Harms, the Deputy President of South Africa’s Supreme Court of Appeal (“SCA”), gave a speech to the Commonwealth in England Barristers’ Association (“CEBA”) on how creative judging or result-orientated judgments—ie reaching a conclusion and then looking for the reasons to justify it—has been used in an emerging democracy with reference to two specific cases before the SCA. The following is an extract from his speech. 

“Have you embellished your evidence?” Joyce Plotnikoff and Richard Woolfson, the authors of Measuring up?, examine the challenges of questioning young witnesses at court 

The involvement of the private sector in the government’s fight against fraud is welcome, but significant dangers—for both victims and the criminal justice system—lurk below the surface, warns Jonathan Fisher QC 

Shelley White sets out the revised guidance on court attire.  

14 August 2009: Do what we can, summer will have its flies — Emerson 

Name: Joanna Poulton
Position: Chief Executive
Chambers: Landmark Chambers 

Tim Kevan
Bloomsbury, August 2009
£11.99 (Paperback)