Chair's Column

The Bar Barometer and the growing diversity of the Bar; the changing face of, and the debts incurred during, pupillage; the Criminal Justice and Courts Bill; and an eventful time on the South Eastern and Wales and Chester Circuits.

The publication in February of the Bar Barometer is an opportunity to look at who we are. We already know that the Bar is a profession of advocates and specialist advisors who are committed to the values encapsulated in the Bar Council’s strapline: integrity, excellence and justice. But the hard figures in the Bar Barometer confirm that the Bar is also a growing and, contrary to clichéd stereotypes, increasingly diverse profession. So, for instance, the number of practising barristers continues to increase, to 15,585 in 2012, including 12,680 at the self-employed Bar.

The history of the profession; its fine record on social mobility; the pro bono work by its members; abolishing the Legal Services Board; the Jeffrey Review; legal aid cuts; and the long term future of the profession.

The first recorded reference to a barrister, in the Black Books of Lincoln’s Inn, dates from 1466. Our profession has survived the Wars of the Roses, the Civil War and the Glorious Revolution, and remains an important part of our justice system, and one we should be proud of. This is well understood by barristers and judges, but is not always understood in Westminster and in the corridors of government. It is our task to keep driving this message home.

Addressing lazy journalism; recognising what really motivates members of the Bar; looking at the pro bono work carried out on all fronts by so many; and the need for wider understanding of this contribution by all, especially the Government

Contributor
Maura McGowan QC, Chairman of the Bar

On a cold, wet, miserable winter’s evening at the beginning of the year I set off to a seminar on legal rights for disabled people in a slightly musty community centre opposite Pentonville Prison. I was slightly depressed by yet another tabloid rant about “fat cat” lawyers living off the “gravy train” that is the legal aid budget. I arrived to find that the event was sponsored by one set of chambers and was being addressed by a barrister from another set. It was a perfect example of the total breakdown between the fact and the lazy journalism that provides the fiction.

On the occasion of his retirement, a look back at the inspirational career of Sir Sydney Kentridge KCMG, QC and the example he has set in preserving and protecting the Rule of Law

Contributor
Maura McGowan QC, Chairman of the Bar

November 1922 saw a number of very significant events: the Ottoman Empire ended, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamen and Sydney Kentridge was born in Johannesburg.

Government legal aid proposals; the shrinking effect on the Bar and on pupillages available; the need for a solution to the pupillage crisis; and one possible answer

Contributor
Maura McGowan QC, Chairman of the Bar

The autumn of 2013 will see Government proposals which may bring about the greatest changes to the provision of legally aided representation in criminal cases since the introduction of public funding for those accused of crime. The last two years have seen the most fundamental reduction of legal aid provision in family and general civil work since the introduction of legal aid in 1948.