Chair's Column
A right, not a commodity
<p><em><strong>Officious and objectionable Ministry speak betrays an unacceptable misunderstanding of the purpose of administration of justice and should be resisted, argues Andrew Langdon QC</strong> </em> </p>
<p>At some point in recent history, I’m not sure when, the language used to describe people who go to court changed. </p>
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Reassure the Bar on Brexit
<p><em><strong>‘No Deal’ is looking ‘No Good’ for lawyers and their clients. Rival jurisdictions are jostling for position. It’s high time the government heeded repeated legal advice, argues Bar Chair</strong> </em> </p>
<p>The Bar Council adopted a neutral position during last year’s EU referendum campaign, although in the public interest and in order to try to inform debate <a href="https://www.counselmagazine.co.uk/articles/the-brexit-papers" target="_blank">we published succinct and accessible papers</a> on the legal consequences of exiting the EU. </p>
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Not in our back yard
<p><strong><em>The alarming practice of ‘deport first, appeal later’ has been arrested by the Supreme Court, but the Bar must keep ‘yard rat’ rule-of-law breaches under its eagle-eyed watch </em></strong> </p>
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Speaking truth to power
<p><em><strong>With the election upon us and populist threats to the rule of law, it’s time to speak plainly: UK justice needs a staunch defender and a place at the high table, writes Andrew Langdon QC</strong> </em> </p>
<p>This month’s column starts in Poland. </p>
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Court in the act
<p><em><strong>Due to the decline in court reporters, justice operates essentially unseen and unheard by the public, writes Andrew Langdon QC. The recent attacks on judges illustrates the need to inform the public of how law works in practice</strong> </em> </p>
<p>A recent survey by <a href="http://thejusticegap.com/" target="_blank"><em>The Justice Gap </em></a> has confirmed what many of us suspected. Court reporters, and especially court reporters from local newspapers, have been declining in number for years and may soon be largely a thing of the past. </p>
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Justice fault: repair needed
<p><em><strong>Four years on from LASPO, the wheels of justice are in urgent need of repair, writes Andrew Langdon QC. No hyperbole: policy-makers are fixated on the technological revolution and the Reform Programme and do not want to talk about fixing legal aid</strong> </em> </p>
<p>April is the fourth anniversary of the coming into force of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012 (LASPO), a measure which removed legal aid from many sections of our community. </p>
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Immigration detention
<p><em><strong>Andrew Langdon QC adds the Bar’s weight to a chorus of criticism on the intolerable state of immigration detention: no judicial scrutiny; no time limits; and scant access to justice</strong> </em> </p>
<p>I would like to devote this column to our treatment of immigrants whom we detain in Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) and in prison. </p>
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New Year game-changers
<p><strong><em>With major issues ahead, not least keeping the young Bar afloat, Andrew Langdon QC outlines the Bar Council’s work to protect the profession’s interests – in the public interest </em></strong> </p>
<p>Perhaps every year begins like this. </p>
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Protecting advocacy
<p><em><strong>Andrew Langdon QC pays thanks to the outgoing Chairman for her unstinting work on behalf of the profession, and sets out his aims and aspirations for 2017</strong> </em> </p>
<p>On your behalf I would like to thank the outgoing Chairman, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC. </p>
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An independent judiciary
<p><em><strong>In her last column as Chairman of the Bar, Chantal-Aimée Doerries QC calls on One Bar to continue to stand in support of our judiciary</strong> </em> </p>
<p>The price of liberty, and in particular the price of the rule of law, is eternal vigilance: the words of Lord Neuberger, President of the UK Supreme Court, giving the keynote closing address to the World Bar Conference 2016. </p>
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