Features

Dr Sarah Krähenbühl explains what psychological expert witnesses can and cannot do in respect to children’s testimony

One police interview video shows a girl, 5 years old, who refuses to sit still, chatters happily and only occasionally answers the questions asked; another shows an older boy who answers in monosyllables and displays no emotion throughout the interview. In both videos, the interviewers do their best; they continue asking questions, try alternative techniques, remain patient but are clearly aware of the limited time available… 

Having spent the year after university working in a law centre in Birmingham, Emily Johnson examines the possible effects of the proposed legal aid reforms on the Law Centre Movement. 

On 13 May 2010 Liam Byrne MP, former Chief Secretary to the Treasury, somewhat ominously forewarned his successor that “there is no money”. The latest figures indicate that the UK has amassed a national debt totalling £770 billion, upon which it is paying interest at the annual rate of around £43 billion. 

Adrian Eissa and Ruth Barber
ISBN: 978 1 84766 707 6. September 2011
Publisher: Bloomsbury Professional. Price: £75

Even barristers of the very near future will look back with astonishment that their predecessors were still, in the 21st century, laden with kilos of textbooks as they set off for court in the morning.  Any exceptionally diligent criminal practitioner embarking for a confiscation hearing faces the Herculean prospect of dragging Archbold 2012 with supplement and Mitchell, Taylor and Talbot on Confiscation and Proceeds of Crime behind them.  Punishment not just for the muscles but also for the bank balance with RRPs of £455 and £342 respectively. 

David Wurtzel looks at the results of the Bar’s recent survey of the working lives of those at the Bar and sees what patterns have emerged.  

Who is a barrister? There are 15,000 potential answers to this question but a more focused one will be found in the fascinating and reader-friendly ‘Barristers’ Working Lives’, a biennial survey of the Bar carried out in 2011 by Employment Research Ltd and the Institute for Employment Studies and released in January. Nearly 3000 barristers answered the survey which is deemed to be a good representation of the population. 

Stephen Mason, Barrister, with a team of international contributors
Publisher LexisNexis. Price: £178.21
ISBN/ISSN: 9781405749121. April 2010

Paper is terribly last millennium. Relevant material now regularly exists on servers, laptops, mobile telephones and a whole variety of gadgets. Pressure for electronic service and presentation of cases is coming from a variety of sources, such as the CPS’ digital drive starting this April. For counsel to advise properly, there is a need to understand the workings of these little black boxes, not only so that challenges can be made but also so that such technology can be used to best present one’s case.  

Having witnessed the assessment process for the CPS Advocacy Panels, Ian Wade QC reveals what he saw and asks, “Did the CPS make the grade?”  

As the Criminal Bar faces unending tribulation, here came yet more you didn’t want – Crown Prosecution Service grading.  Following the 2009 HMCPSi report, from which neither “in-house” nor external advocates emerged with a clean bill of health, the Director of Public Prosecutions declared a commitment to improved advocacy. The inspectorate recommended a unified system of grading for all prosecution advocates, so a new assessment regime became inevitable. For many self employed advocates the brave new world of competency based and evidence tested rigour has not hitherto touched their lives, and sadly this was a block waiting to be stumbled over. Many highly competent, well regarded advocates did not get the Level they applied for, and may be perplexed at the outcome. Too often they had only themselves to blame. Simply asserting, “I am a great barrister” no longer cuts the mustard. 

Stephen Akinsanya explains how some lateral thinking - and an ipad2 - saved the day, time and money in a criminal court . 

It was the moment that every defence counsel dreads; a returned trial on a Friday and the discovery, as you read the brief, that a key defence witness was a Lance Corporal serving with the Royal Lancashire Regiment who had been flown to Cyprus prior to taking up duties in Afghanistan. 

When will immunity end for the human right violators? Sumon Akter investigates the situation in Nepal.  

The internal conflict in Nepal saw many Nepalese fall victim to the cruelty of those who are there to protect their rights and interests, as well as those claiming to fight for their rights. In 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) declared a “people’s war” against the “ruling classes”, which included the monarchy and the political parties. During this decade-long war the Maoist and the security forces committed acts of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other human rights abuses. 

The Statute Law Society aims to educate us all about the legislative process. Michael Jennings explains

The Statute Law Society (‘SLS’) is a charitable body which since 1968 has been fulfilling its aims of educating members of the legal profession and the public about the legislative process and encouraging improvements in statute law. They have done this through lectures from noted experts and by developing educational projects. 

Job title - Silk, Old Square Chambers

Old Square Chambers specialises in employment and personal injury law. It is also known for its expertise in clinical negligence, health & safety, environmental, professional discipline, product liability and public inquiries. It has 11 QCs and over 50 other members based in London or Bristol